Obesity and academic performance of Canadian school children: A prospective study using the first five waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth

Abstract

Obesity has become a worldwide epidemic in children. It may have both short- and long-term negative effects including poor performance in academics. Using multivariate linear regression methods and the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, this study prospectively examined the effect of obesity status during the primary school years (2-5 y to 8-11 y) on standardized math test scores, while adjusting for confounders. Results indicate that children who grew out of obesity performed significantly better in math than children who were never obese. However, children who were always obese and those that developed obesity performed no differently than children who were never obese. Childhood obesity was not found to be negatively associated with an objective measure of academic performance. Being obese early in childhood and normal weight later on was associated with improved academic performance. However, further studies are needed to substantiate this finding.