TITLE:
Executive Functions Correlated with Body Mass Index in Overweight Middle-Aged Women
AUTHORS:
Silvia Solís-Ortiz, Mayra Gutiérrez-Muñoz, Lisette Morado-Crespo, Silvia Aurora Trejo-Bahena, Linaloe Kala
KEYWORDS:
Cognition, Executive Functions, Body Mass Index, Overweight, Middle-Aged
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.7 No.3,
March
30,
2016
ABSTRACT: The
impacts of excess Body mass index (BMI) on physical health are well known and
widely studied, but little is known about the consequences of being overweight
or obese on cognitive function. The aim of this study was to correlate the BMI
with executive functions in overweight middle- aged women. Seventy overweight
middle-aged women between 48 and 64 years of age who are otherwise healthy
participated in the study. Demographic and anthropometric variables were
evaluated. Four standard neuropsychological tests were applied to assess executive
functions, sustained attention, selective attention, and verbal fluency. The
mean BMI of the participants was 29.35 and was negatively correlated with
categories reached (r = -0.41, p = 0.007) and positively
correlated with the number of errors (r = 0.43, p = 0.005)
of executive function test. Scores of other neuropsychological tests applied
showed no correlation with BMI. These findings suggest that BMI impacts the
executive functions in overweight women who do not present any signs of
disease.