Photo: RIA Novosti
Children with excess weight or obesity may struggle more with mathematics. According to RIA Novosti, experts analyzed data from 1,500 high school students and noted that overweight children have lower math grades compared to their normal-weight peers.
This issue was also discussed at the meeting of the Scientific Council "Sciences about Life" under the Russian Academy of Sciences. It states that in overweight children, the intestinal-brain connection (i.e., the connection between the microflora of the body and the nervous system) can be incorrectly formed from the very beginning.
Leila Namazova-Baranova, a leading pediatric specialist working in the field of preventive medicine in the Russian healthcare system, noted that such effects may be less pronounced in malnourished children. That is, it's not just about the simple conclusion "eats a lot - reads little": how the internal systems in the body work is also of great importance.
Scientists also examined brain morphometry and noted that in overweight children, the volume of white matter increased significantly due to gray matter. Experts consider this a separate, serious scientific problem.
Most importantly, experts are "signing" that the data being obtained may affect the intellectual potential of the country in the future.
Of course, this does not mean that the study proved "cause-and-effect" at once: sleep, stress, movement, eating culture, and family environment also affect the assessment. But the signal is very clear: a child's proper nutrition and activity is an investment not only in appearance but also in brain function and learning outcomes. In short, to raise the "grade," you sometimes need to correct your habits, not a calculator.
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