Obese Girls Prone to Poorer Grades, Study Suggests

Researchers found weight at age 11 linked to academic success

By Robert Preidt

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

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Obesity in Children

TUESDAY, March 11, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Besides the well-known
problems associated with being overweight at a young age, a new study
suggests that obese teen girls tend to do worse in school than those
with a healthy weight.

Researchers analyzed data from nearly 6,000 children in the United
Kingdom and found that girls who were obese at age 11 had lower academic
scores at ages 11, 13 and 16 than those with a normal weight.

The overall average grade in English, math and science was a C, but
the average grade among obese girls was a D. The link between obesity
and school grades was less clear in boys, according to the study, which
was published March 11 in the International Journal of Obesity.

The investigators, from the University of Strathclyde, the University
of Dundee and elsewhere, took into account other possible factors --
such as mental health, IQ, social and economic status, and the start of
the menstrual cycle. But they found that those factors did not affect
the link between obesity and school performance in girls.

Although the study found an association between weight and school
grades in this group of girls, it did not prove cause-and-effect.

"Further work is needed to understand why obesity is negatively
related to academic attainment. But it is clear that teenagers, parents
and policymakers in education and public health should be aware of the
lifelong educational and economic impact of obesity," principal
investigator John Reilly, a professor of physical activity and public
health science at the University of Strathclyde, said in a university
news release.

In addition, researcher Josie Booth, of the school of psychology at
the University of Dundee, said: "There is a clear pattern which shows
that girls who are in the obese range are performing more poorly than
their counterparts in the healthy weight range throughout their teenage
years."

SOURCE: University of Strathclyde, news release, March 11, 2014

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