title: Associations between inhibitory control and body weight in German primary school children.
abstract: Deficits in inhibitory control are supposed to be a risk factor for overweight but literature concerning childhood and beyond the clinical setting is scarce. The objective of this study was to investigate the role of inhibitory control in regards to body weight in a large non-clinical sample of primary school children. Baseline data of 498 children (1st and 2nd grade; 7.0 ± 0.6 years; 49.8% boys) participating in a school-based intervention study in Germany were used. Children performed a Go-Nogo-task to assess inhibitory control. Height and weight were collected and converted to BMI percentiles based on national standards. Relevant influencing factors (sociodemographic data, health characteristics of parents, children's health behaviour) were assessed via parental questionnaire. Inhibitory control was significantly associated with body weight and contributed to the statistical prediction of body weight above and beyond parent education, migration background, parent weight, TV consumption and breakfast habits. Moreover, obese children displayed significantly lower inhibitory control compared to non-overweight and overweight children. The findings suggest that deficits in inhibitory control constitute a risk factor for paediatric obesity.
authors.affiliation: Division of Sports and Rehabilitation Medicine, Ulm University Medical Centre, Frauensteige 6, 89075 Ulm, Germany. Electronic address: tamara.wirt@uni-ulm.de.
authors.forename: Tamara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wirt
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology and Pedagogy, Ulm University, Albert-Einstein-Allee 47, 89081 Ulm, Germany. Electronic address: verena.hundsdoerfer@uni-ulm.de.
authors.forename: Verena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hundsdörfer
authors.affiliation: Division of Sports and Rehabilitation Medicine, Ulm University Medical Centre, Frauensteige 6, 89075 Ulm, Germany. Electronic address: anja.schreiber@uni-ulm.de.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schreiber
authors.affiliation: Division of Sports and Rehabilitation Medicine, Ulm University Medical Centre, Frauensteige 6, 89075 Ulm, Germany. Electronic address: dorothea.kesztyues@uni-ulm.de.
authors.forename: Dorothea
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kesztyüs
authors.affiliation: Division of Sports and Rehabilitation Medicine, Ulm University Medical Centre, Frauensteige 6, 89075 Ulm, Germany. Electronic address: juergen.steinacker@uni-ulm.de.
authors.forename: Jürgen M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Steinacker
mesh_terms: D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012574:Schools; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Child; Impulsivity; Inhibition; Obesity; Overweight; Self-regulation