The results confirmed the presence of a relation between executive functions and overweight/obesity , although the directionality of this relation was not clear ; nor did any single executive function emerge as being more involved than others in this relation .
Despite this , there was evidence of a reciprocal influence between executive functions and overweight/obesity .
Conclusions : This systematic review underlines the presence of a relationship between executive functions and overweight/obesity .
Moreover , it seems to suggest a bidirectional trend in this relationship that could be the cause of the failure of interventions for weight reduction .
Background : The increasing incidence of people affected by overweight or obesity is a significant health problem .
The knowledge of the factors which influences the inappropriate eating behaviors causing excessive body fat is an essential goal for the research .
Overweight and obesity are significant risk factors for many health diseases , such as cardiovascular problems , diabetes .
Recently , many studies have focused on the relationship between body weight and cognitive processes .
Objectives : This systematic review is aim ed to investigate the existence and the nature of the relationship between excessive body weight ( overweight/obesity ) and executive functions , analyzing cross-sectional , and longitudinal studies in order to verify the evidence of a possible causality between these variables .
Body mass index and neurocognitive functioning across the adult lifespan.
OBJECTIVE Cognitive dysfunction and structural brain abnormalities have been observed in obese versus lean individuals , but with variability across age and weight groups . The current study was design ed to clarify the cognitive profile of obesity by examining performance across multiple cognitive domains in adults with wide-ranging age and weight status . METHOD Participants ( N = 732 ; 61 % women ; ages 18 - 88 ; BMI range 19 - 75 ) underwent assessment of cognitive functioning and relevant medical/demographic covariates .  Neuropsychological tests  were grouped by cognitive domain ( via confirmatory factor analysis ) , and st and ardized scores were averaged into composite variables . RESULTS Hierarchical linear regression analyses revealed main effects for BMI on motor ( ΔR2 = .02 , β = -.15 ) and attention/processing speed ( ΔR2 = .01 , β = -.07 ) , whereas a significant interaction between BMI and age was observed ( ΔR2 = .01 , β = -.08 ) for predicting executive functioning ( p < .05 ) . BMI was not independently associated with memory or language functioning and no interaction effects were observed for these variables . Although BMI was not independently related to executive dysfunction , a significant age × BMI interaction suggests that obesity-related executive deficits may increase with age . CONCLUSIONS Overall , these findings may support an independent association between obesity and a frontal-subcortical pathology , though prospect i ve studies are needed to further clarify this possibility
The results confirmed the presence of a relation between executive functions and overweight/obesity , although the directionality of this relation was not clear ; nor did any single executive function emerge as being more involved than others in this relation .
Despite this , there was evidence of a reciprocal influence between executive functions and overweight/obesity .
Conclusions : This systematic review underlines the presence of a relationship between executive functions and overweight/obesity .
Moreover , it seems to suggest a bidirectional trend in this relationship that could be the cause of the failure of interventions for weight reduction .
Background : The increasing incidence of people affected by overweight or obesity is a significant health problem .
The knowledge of the factors which influences the inappropriate eating behaviors causing excessive body fat is an essential goal for the research .
Overweight and obesity are significant risk factors for many health diseases , such as cardiovascular problems , diabetes .
Recently , many studies have focused on the relationship between body weight and cognitive processes .
Objectives : This systematic review is aim ed to investigate the existence and the nature of the relationship between excessive body weight ( overweight/obesity ) and executive functions , analyzing cross-sectional , and longitudinal studies in order to verify the evidence of a possible causality between these variables .