Mediation Role of Physical Fitness and Its Components on the Association Between Distribution-Related Fat Indicators and Adolescents’ Cognitive Performance: Exploring the Influence of School Vulnerability. The Cogni-Action Project

Abstract

Background: Physical fitness and fatness converge simultaneously modulating cognitive skills, which in turn, are associated with children and adolescents’ socioeconomic background. However, both fitness components and fat mass localization are crucial for understanding its implication at the cognitive level.Objective: This study aimed to determine the mediation role of a global physical fitness score and its components on the association between different fatness indicators related to fat distribution and adolescents’ cognitive performance, and simultaneously explore the influence of school vulnerability.Methods: In this study, 1,196 Chilean adolescents participated (aged 10–14; 50.7% boys). Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), muscular fitness (MF), and speed-agility fitness (SAF) were evaluated, and a global fitness score (GFS) was computed adjusted for age and sex (CRF + MF + SAF z-scores). Body mass index z-score (BMIz), sum-of-4-skinfolds (4SKF), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) were used as non-specific, peripheral, and central adiposity indicators, respectively. A global cognitive score was computed based on eight tasks, and the school vulnerability index (SVI) was registered as high, mid or low. A total of 24 mediation analyses were performed according to two models, adjusted for sex and peak high velocity (Model 1), and adding the school vulnerability index (SVI) in Model 2. The significance level was set at p < 0.05.Results: The fitness mediation role was different concerning the fatness indicators related to fat distribution analyzed. Even after controlling for SVI, CRF (22%), and SAF (29%), but not MF, mediated the association between BMIz and cognitive performance. Likewise, CRF, SAF and GFS, but not MF, mediated the association between WHtR and cognitive performance (38.6%, 31.9%, and 54.8%, respectively). No mediations were observed for 4SKF.Conclusion: The negative association between fatness and cognitive performance is mitigated by the level of adolescents’ physical fitness, mainly CRF and SAF. This mediation role seems to be more consistent with a central fat indicator even in the presence of school vulnerability. Strategies promoting physical fitness would reduce the cognitive gap in children and adolescents related to obesity and school vulnerability.

Multimodal neuroimaging correlates of physical-cognitive covariation in Chilean adolescents. The Cogni-Action Project

“…Our findings are in line with the literature showing an important contribution of multiple healthy-lifestyle behaviours -such as physical activity, physical fitness, sleep hygiene, diet, body composition -in supporting adolescents' cognitive performance and academic achievements 11,31,[58][59][60] . It is indeed well-known that lifestyle behaviours are interdependent, favouring a synergistic beneficial effect on the body 61 .…”

“…The second was school vulnerability index, a Chilean metric that measures the degree of socioeconomic vulnerability of pupils who attend schools with partial or total state funding (subsidised and public schools, respectively) based on the educational level of parents-tutors, student health condition, physical and emotional wellbeing, and school location. This index score ranges from 0 to 100, with a score of zero being assigned to private schools; thus schools are classified as low (<10), middle (≥10 to <60), and high (≥60) 31 .…”

“…Socioeconomic factors are crucial during brain development and have been associated with healthy behaviours, cognitive performance and academic achievements 17,[29][30][31] . We considered multiple measures of socioeconomic factors.…”

“…Body composition was measured by: a) body mass index (BMI), b) waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), and c) four skinfolds. Details on the procedure used to acquire these measurements have been reported elsewhere 31 . Physical activity (self-reported) was evaluated through two measures, a) active commuting and b) physical activity level.…”

Which one? A comparative study of traditional and sports uniforms on academic achievement, cognitive performance, playtime, bullying, and discrimination in adolescents. The Cogni-Action Project

“…In uence of school vulnerability Finally, was hypothesised that possible differences in our analyses would depend mainly on the school vulnerability than the uniform type. This assumption was based on the importance and convergence of factors such as socioeconomics, inequality, and the vulnerability index at the school levels in a Latin-American sample of adolescents 16,28,53 . Contrary to our hypothesis, model 1 and model 2 seem to be consistent and not affected by the school's vulnerability in academic achievement, cognitive performance, playtime, and bullying.…”