Obesity and its negative impact on intelligence

Medical research indicates that excess weight impairs brain function.

Intelligence is a person's capacity to receive, apply, and retain information.

Medical science studies indicate that excess weight impairs brain function (see also: Health risks linked to obesity)

On October 15, 2006, The Telegraph reported in an article entitled The greater your weight, the lower your IQ, say scientists:

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It is bad for your blood pressure, knocks years off your life and is a strain on your heart. Now scientists have discovered that gaining weight lowers your intelligence. The findings follow last week's government figures that show Britain as the "fat man" of Europe, with nearly a quarter of adults and more than 14 per cent of children under 16 classified as obese. The new five-year study of more than 2,200 adults claims to have found a link between obesity and the decline in a person's cognitive function. The research, conducted by French scientists, which is published in this month's Neurology journal, involved men and women aged between 32 and 62 taking four mental ability tests that were then repeated five years later. The researchers found that people with a Body Mass Index – a measure of body fat – of 20 or less could recall 56 per cent of words in a vocabulary test, while those who were obese, with a BMI of 30 or higher, could remember only 44 per cent.

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For more information, please see: Health risks linked to obesity

Sleep, mental performance and obesity negatively impacting sleep

Most individuals are overweight due to their dietary and exercise habits.

Sleep problems have a negative impact on mental performance. Adequate sleep, on the other hand, improves processes such as memory, attentional ability, alertness, mental insight and creativity.

According to the Mayo Clinic some of the symptoms associated with obesity can include:

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Difficulty sleeping Snoring Sleep apnea Pain in your back or joints Excessive sweating Always feeling hot Rashes or infection in folds of your skin Feeling out of breath with minor exertion Daytime sleepiness or fatigue Depression

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Weight loss and memory improvement

Obesity is positively associated with impulsiveness, lower self-discipline and neuroticism.

Weight loss causes memory improvement.

Journal articles on obesity and intelligence

• Association between intelligence quotient and obesity in England, Lifestyle Medicine. 20 October 2020 https://doi.org/10.1002/lim2.11
• IQ and the weight of nations. Personality and Individual Differences. Volume 87, December 2015, Pages 105-109

Obesity and lower IQ in toddlers and preschool children

• Relation of intelligence quotient and body mass index in preschool children: a community-based cross-sectional study, Relation of intelligence quotient and body mass index in preschool children: a community-based cross-sectional study

• Study shows link between morbid obesity, low IQ in toddlers, University of Florida College of Medicine, 2006

Journal articles on obesity and loss of some brain function

• Impact of obesity and diet on brain structure and function: a gut-brain-body crosstalk. The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. 2022 Dec;81(4):306-316. doi: 10.1017/S0029665122002786. Epub 2022 Nov 8.
• Does obesity put your brain at risk?. Diabetes & metabolic syndrome. 2022 Mar;16(3):102444. doi: 10.1016/j.dsx.2022.102444. Epub 2022 Feb 26.
• Cognition, Brain Structure, and Brain Function in Individuals with Obesity and Related Disorders, Current Obesity Reports. 2020 Dec;9(4):544-549. doi: 10.1007/s13679-020-00412-y. Epub 2020 Oct 16.
• The relationship between obesity and cognitive health and decline, The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. 2017 Nov;76(4):443-454. doi: 10.1017/S0029665117002014. Epub 2017 Sep 11.
• Obesity and Aging: Consequences for Cognition, Brain Structure, and Brain Function. Psychosomatic Medicine. 2015 Jul-Aug;77(6):697-709. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0000000000000212.
• Obesity-associated biomarkers and executive function in children. Pediatric research.Jan;77(1-2):143-7. doi: 10.1038/pr.2014.158. Epub 2014 Oct 13.
• Obesity and neuroinflammation: a pathway to cognitive impairment, Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 2014 Nov:42:10-21. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2014.04.001. Epub 2014 Apr 12.

See also

• Consumption of ultra-processed foods and brain impairment
• Cognitive decline and diet
• Academic performance and nutrition
• Consumption of ultra-processed foods and health risks
• Atheism and obesity
• Atheism and intelligence

External links

• Obesity harms brain health throughout life – yet scientists don't know why, American Heart Association, 2022
• Being overweight could be directly linked to having a lower IQ, study suggests, The US Sun, 2022
• Why obesity damages your mind as well as your body, BBC, 2016
• Obesity has negative effect on intelligence, 2006