Childhood obesity appears to be linked with poorer cognitive function, even after accounting for intellectual abilities, aerobic fitness, and demographic factors, according to a study involving >233,000 individuals. Participants were females who were aged between 7 and 9 years. Investigators assessed 1) whole-body adiposity and aerobic fitness relative to fat-free mass; 2) attentional inhibition; and 3) intraindividual variability (IIV). They then looked at the relationship between adiposity and cognitive measures. Among the results:

• Whole-body adiposity was negatively related to congruent trial mean accuracy and reaction time and to coefficient of variation of reaction time (CVRT) in both the congruent and incongruent trials.
• Differences in cognitive function across weight status were selectively evident for measures of IIV, such that children with overweight/obesity exhibited higher CVRT for both the congruent and incongruent trials.