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. 2017 Sep;6(3):297-313.
doi: 10.1007/s13679-017-0272-9.

Longitudinal Associations Between Childhood Obesity and Academic Achievement: Systematic Review with Focus Group Data

Anne Martin  1 , Josephine N Booth  2 , Sarah McGeown  2 , Ailsa Niven  3 , John Sproule  4 , David H Saunders  3   4 , John J Reilly  5
Affiliations

Longitudinal Associations Between Childhood Obesity and Academic Achievement: Systematic Review with Focus Group Data

Anne Martin et al. Curr Obes Rep. 2017 Sep.

Abstract

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to review the evidence on longitudinal associations between child and adolescent obesity and academic achievement and to provide perceptions of adolescents with obesity and their parents on this topic.

Recent findings: Synthesis of 31 studies (from 17 cohorts) suggested that relationships between obesity and academic achievement are not well established, except for adolescent girls' maths attainment, potentially mediated by both weight-related bullying and executive cognitive functions. Focus groups with adolescent girls with obesity confirmed experiences of psychosocial distress at school particularly during Physical Education. Adolescents perceived that obesity was not related to academic achievement directly, but by their attitude to school. Interventions are warranted to promote psychosocial wellbeing and cognitive abilities linked to academic achievement in adolescent girls with obesity. Physical Education should be a positive experience for children and adolescents with obesity.

Keywords: Academic achievement; Adolescents; Children; Longitudinal cohort studies; Obesity; Systematic review.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

Anne Martin declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Josephine N. Booth declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Sarah McGeown declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Ailsa Niven declares that she has no conflict of interest.

John Sproule declares that he has no conflict of interest.

David H. Saunders has received speaker’s honorarium from the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Neurology (ACPIN) conference.

John J. Reilly declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

This article does include any study with human subjects. Informed written consent was obtained from the study participants.

Funding

There is no funding to be disclosed.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Literature search and study selection flow diagram
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Evidence synthesis on the longitudinal association between child and adolescent overweight and obesity and academic achievement. a Primary analysis with 15 high-quality studies. b 24 high- and low-quality studies. Each study may be represented in multiple outcomes and weight categories
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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