A healthier dietary pattern was associated with better cognitive outcomes in all studies , although some of the reported associations were weak and the measures used varied across the studies .
Conclusions Physical activity and healthy diets in early childhood are associated with better cognitive outcomes  in young children .
Objective Given the high prevalence of suboptimal nutrition and low activity levels in children , we systematic ally review ed the literature on the relationship between physical activity and dietary patterns and cognitive development in early childhood ( six months to five years ) .
The Relationship between Obesity and Cognitive Performance in Children: A Longitudinal Study.
BACKGROUND The relationship between obesity and academic outcomes remains unclear . We evaluated the association between obesity and cognitive performance in US children . METHODS We analyzed two nationally representative prospect i ve cohorts of children in the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth , ages 2 through 8 at baseline and followed for 6 years , from 1988 to 1994 ( cohort 1 , n=2672 ) and 1994 to 2000 ( cohort 2 , n=1991 ) . The main exposure variable was obesity ( defined as never obese , became obese , always obese , and became nonobese ) . The main outcomes were st and ardized scores on four cognitive assessment s. Univariate regression analyses of test scores on obesity were performed . Fixed-effects regression models , controlling for measured and unmeasured time-invariant confounders , were additionally adjusted for time-variant confounders to analyze the impact of change in obesity status on change in test scores . RESULTS Unadjusted analyses revealed a significant association between obesity and Peabody Individual Achievement Test ( PIAT ) scores . In cohort 1 , always obese children had lower PIAT math scores than never obese children ( β=-7.48 ; p<0.05 ) . Always obese boys had lower PIAT math scores than those who were never obese ( β=-16.45 ; p<0.01 ) . In cohort 2 , PIAT math scores were lower in the became obese category than the never obese category ( β=-4.10 ; p<0.05 ) . Always obese girls had lower PIAT reading scores than those who were never obese ( β=-11.28 ; p<0.01 ) . Fixed-effects models additionally adjusted for Home Observation Measurement of the Environment , Short Form score and height percentile showed no significant relationship between obesity and test scores in either cohort . CONCLUSION Childhood obesity is unlikely to be causally related to cognitive performance
A healthier dietary pattern was associated with better cognitive outcomes in all studies , although some of the reported associations were weak and the measures used varied across the studies .
Conclusions Physical activity and healthy diets in early childhood are associated with better cognitive outcomes  in young children .
Objective Given the high prevalence of suboptimal nutrition and low activity levels in children , we systematic ally review ed the literature on the relationship between physical activity and dietary patterns and cognitive development in early childhood ( six months to five years ) .