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 .
Executive function training with game elements for obese children: a novel treatment to enhance self-regulatory abilities for weight-control.
For obese children  behavioral treatment results in only small changes in relative weight and frequent relapse . The current study investigated the effects of an Executive Functioning ( EF ) training with game-elements on weight loss maintenance in obese children , over and above the care as usual in an inpatient treatment program . Forty-four children ( aged 8 - 14 years ) who were in the final months of a 10-months inpatient treatment program in a medical paediatric centre were r and omized to either the 6 week EF-training condition or to a  care as usual only control group .  The EF-training consisted of a 25-session training of inhibition and working memory . Treatment outcomes were child performances on cognitive tasks of inhibition and working memory and childcare worker ratings on EF-symptoms as well as weight loss maintenance after leaving the clinic . Children in the EF-training condition showed significantly more improvement than the children in the care as usual only group on the working memory task as well as on the childcare worker reports of working memory and meta-cognition . They were also more capable to maintain their weight loss until 8 weeks post-training . This study shows promising evidence for the efficacy of an EF-training as weight stabilization intervention in obese children
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 .