metabolic syndrome and cognitive function in adolescents

This may be a very serious problem...

 

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A new study by researchers at NYU School of Medicine reveals for the first time that metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with cognitive and brain impairments in adolescents and calls for pediatricians to take this into account when considering the early treatment of childhood obesity.

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Dr. Convit and colleagues balanced each group according to age, socioeconomic status, school grade, gender and ethnicity to ensure things like cultural differences in diet and access to quality healthcare did not cloud the data. They then conducted endocrine, MRI and neuropsychological evaluations on the adolescents and found that those classified as having MetS showed significantly lower math and spelling scores, as well as decreased attention span and mental flexibility. They also showed differences in brain structure and volume, presenting with smaller hippocampal volumes -- involved in the learning and recall of new information, increased brain cerebrospinal fluid and reductions of microstructural integrity in major white matter tracts in the brain. The more MetS-characterizing health problems the participants had, the more profound the effect across the board.

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