Abstract
Preadolescence is an important period for the consolidation of certain arithmetic facts, and the development of problem-solving strategies. Obese subjects seem to have poorer academic performance in math than their normal-weight peers, suggesting a negative effect of obesity on math skills in critical developmental periods. To test this hypothesis, event-related potentials (ERPs) were collected during a delayed-verification math task using simple addition and subtraction problems in obese [above 95th body mass index (BMI) percentile] and non-obese (between 5th and 90th BMI percentile) preteens with different levels of math skill; thirty-one with low math skills (14 obese, mean BMI = 26.40, 9.79 years old; 17 non-obese, BMI = 17.45, 9.76 years old) and thirty-one with high math skills (15 obese, BMI = 26.90, 9.60 years old; 16 non-obese, BMI = 17.13, 9.63 years old). No significant differences between weight groups were observed in task accuracy regardless of their mathematical skill level. For ERPs, electrophysiological differences were found only in the subtraction condition; participants with obesity showed an electrophysiologic pattern associated with a reduced ability to allocate attention resources regardless of their math skill level, these differences were characterized by longer P300 latency than their normal-weight peers. Moreover, the participants with obesity with high math skills displayed hypoactivity in left superior parietal lobule compared with their normal-weight peers. Additionally, obese preteens with low math skills displayed smaller arithmetic N400 amplitude than non-obese participants, reflecting difficulties in retrieving visual, semantic, and lexical information about numbers. We conclude that participants with obesity are less able than their normal-weight peers to deploy their attention regardless of their behavioral performance, which seems to have a greater effect on obese participants with low math skills because they also show problems in the retrieval of solutions from working memory, resulting in a delay in the development of mathematical skills.
Highlights
Math skills entail adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing symbolic numbers efficiently, and are developed through childhood and adolescence (Siegler et al, 2011; Siegler and Braithwaite, 2017)
Cluster analysis resulted in identification of four weight by math skill groups: (1) participants with obesity and low math skills, (2) preteens with obesity and high math skills, (3) 17 non-obese preteens with low math skills, and (4) 16 non-obese preteens with high math skills
The non-obese preteens had higher complex addition and subtraction problems (CAS) scores than participants with obesity (Obese, M = 18.91; non-obese, M = 21.30), and higher CAS scores were found for preteens with high math skill level than those with lower performance (Low, M = 18.83; high, 21.38)
Summary
Math skills entail adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing symbolic numbers efficiently, and are developed through childhood and adolescence (Siegler et al, 2011; Siegler and Braithwaite, 2017). These skills constitute an essential element of the K-12 school curriculum and have been positively associated with academic achievement (Gómez-Velázquez et al, 2015). Longitudinal studies using standardized tests (e.g., WoodcockMcGrew-Werder mini-battery of achievement, Woodcock et al, 1994) reported a negative association between weight status and math scores (Datar et al, 2004; Gable et al, 2012; Kranjac, 2015; Li and O’Connelly, 2015; Martin et al, 2017). Participants with obesity had lower scores by age than their normal-weight peers, indicating a direct negative effect of obesity on math skills
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