Body Mass Index (BMI) and Cognitive abilities in school going boys A Cross sectional study

BMI represents an index of an individual’s fatness and acts as a risk factor for the development of or the prevalence of several health issues. Cognition refers to mental processes such as attention, memory, problem-solving, and decision-making. Childhood is a crucial period for cognitive development. Factors such as genetics, environment, nutrition, and socioeconomic status can influence cognitive abilities in children. The cognitive control of behavior has been studied in a popular paradigm is the task developed by Stroop. It is important to note that research in these areas is ongoing, and individual differences, environmental factors, and other variables can influence the relationships between Body mass index (BMI), cognition, and stroop performance in children. Three Hundred Ninety eight (398) apparently healthy school going boys studying in class I to Class X standard of different socio-economic background were recruited randomly from different schools of Udaipur subdivision, Gomati District, Tripura. After taking height and weight all participants were tested individually a mobile based modified ‘Stroop color word’ test based on the original Stroop test ( Stroop, 1935) to identify cognitive abilities of mental attention. Reaction time was measured by the mobile based apps “Reaction Time (Bensoft, 2016). It is concluded in the present study that the cognitive abilities in terms of stroop performances and RT are not significantly differed among under-weight, normal and overweight-obesity subjects classified based on BMIP (BMI percentile). In partial correlation when age is controlled showed that BMI did not have any significant correlation, but RT’s have significant negative correlation with BMI. So, BMI is associated with RT