Credit: AP / Patrick Sison

Childhood obesity comes with a myriad of health risks, ranging from increased risk of heart disease and cancer to asthma and type 2 diabetes. A new study shows how obesity can have an impact on children’s cognitive development as well.

The study, conducted by epidemiologists at Brown University and published in the journal Obesity, found a link between children’s weight in the first two years of life and their cognitive abilities at school age. According to the study authors, “children on the threshold of obesity or overweight in the first two years of life had lower perceptual reasoning and working memory scores than lean children when tested at ages five and eight.” (The link between weight and working memory was only true for boys, however.) The study also found that overweight or obese children were more likely to have lower IQ scores.

Obesity, which can deregulate certain types of hormones and cause inflammation in the brain, has long been known to be associated with lower cognition in adults, including how they […]

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