Is obesity in the brain? Parent perceptions of brain influences on obesity

Abstract

Neuroimaging studies demonstrate associations of brain structure and function with children's eating behaviour and body weight, and the feasibility of integrating brain measures into obesity risk assessment and intervention is growing. However, little is known about lay perceptions of how the brain influences obesity. We investigated parent perceptions of brain contributions to obesity in three separate studies: 1) a study of mothers of adolescents recruited for neuroimaging research (n = 88), 2) a study of ethnically Chinese parents of 5-13 year olds participating in a parent feeding survey (n = 277), and 3) a study of parents of 3-15 year olds completing an online survey (n = 113). In general, parents believed that brain factors influence obesity, but considered them less influential than behaviours such as diet and exercise. Causal attributions for brain factors were correlated with attributions for genetic factors and biological factors (e.g., metabolism). Parents who perceived their child to be overweight or had a high concern about their child becoming overweight in the future rated brain factors as more important in determining their child's weight and more likely to lessen their child's ability to control their weight. Our results suggest that parents attribute obesity to the brain to a moderate degree, and that education or feedback regarding brain influences on obesity could be a promising obesity intervention component.

Early life factors and hippocampal functional connectivity in children with overweight/obesity

“…29 Therefore, this background highlights the importance of examining early life development of hippocampal rsFC and its academic implications in children, and particularly in children with overweight/ obesity, who show altered hippocampal connectivity and worse executive function and academic performance. [30][31][32][33][34][35] In the present study, we investigated the associations of early life factors, such as anthropometric neonatal data (i.e., birth length and birth weight) and breastfeeding practices (i.e., exclusive and any breastfeeding) with hippocampal rsFC, and (ii) tested whether connectivity related to early life factors is associated with long-term academic performance in children with overweight/obesity.…”

Brain structure differences in pediatric obesity: cause or consequence?

“…However, measurement of metabolic and inflammatory markers in larger pediatric datasets extending to older ages and including longitudinal data from children who go on to develop metabolic dysregulation will be essential to fully investigate effects of heightened adiposity and its correlates on brain function and structure. Sadler et al [5] includes discussion of relevant extant research and potential mechanistic pathways.…”