BrotherBeefSteak t1_j9cu70h wrote on February 20, 2023 at 11:59 PM

Reply to comment by chrisdh79 in Deficits in executive function linked to weight excess in preschoolers by chrisdh79

I feel like this has been failry obvious for a long time? Obviously cognitive impaired people are going to have a harder time taking care of themselves. Am I wrong or am I missing something

BafangFan t1_j9d15iv wrote on February 21, 2023 at 12:51 AM

I don't think young toddlers know what a calorie is, or how many they need - or the difference between a good calorie and a bad calorie.

So are kids making and serving their own food, and just making bad choices at it?

Or is the same thing that causes their cognitive abilities to function poorly also causing the metabolism to function poorly?

Two different people eating the exact same meal of the exact same calories can react to that meal very differently depending on how their hormones are balanced

SerialStateLineXer t1_j9e4owm wrote on February 21, 2023 at 6:40 AM

I can think of at least three possible explanations:

Executive function is heritable, and parents with poor executive function are more likely to overfeed their children.
Children with poor executive function behave in a manner that prompts parents to overfeed them.
Overeating and obesity impair executive function, even in young children.

SerialStateLineXer t1_j9e5pgq wrote on February 21, 2023 at 6:53 AM

>I don't think young toddlers know what a calorie is, or how many they need - or the difference between a good calorie and a bad calorie.

Perhaps also worth noting that obesity is a relatively new problem in Thailand. While the obesity rate is rapidly increasing, it was below 5% only 20 years ago. It's not a problem they've been dealing with for multiple generations the way we have in the West, and the grandparents of today's children grew up in a time when hunger was a much bigger problem than obesity.

BrotherBeefSteak t1_j9d21qc wrote on February 21, 2023 at 12:58 AM

If a kid is making their own food their probably fucked up anyways from neglect sadly. So I don't think it's that. An obese child, most times I've seen. Has enabling parents. I don't see the parents really mentioned as the reason a child could be obese at all. I understand that there's extenuating factors. But how rare is it that kid who gets healthy meals from his parents and gets exercise(playing and the like) is overweight?