Overweight and cognitive functions
Investigating the causal factors of obesity is challenging when aiming to do so using the best scientific methods. Causes are multiple, and they all influence each other in a reciprocal manner, which other factors may condition. It does make one's head spin and thoughts tangle, pushing us towards solutions like cutting the Gordian knot - 'so don't eat so much.' Not being able to bear the complexity of a problem does not solve it. By the way, if anyone reading this is a student, do read slowly the publication under the second link on causality research methods.
For example, higher reasoning functions play a crucial role in the entire eating process - we choose what to eat by making decisions based on existing knowledge, memories, attitudes, and predictions of consequences. It can lead to healthy and nutritious food, or create a coherent field of information for an opposite decision.
In the second case, overweight and obesity can develop, which in turn (and this is also known from research) impairs many functions of thinking: impulse control, working memory, flexibility of thought, and leads to poor episodic memory. Without these functions, the ability to maintain a healthy diet is significantly impaired; we are left with only the information provided by impulses and neurotransmitters, and we continue to eat unhealthily. This way, the strategy protects itself, like a fox covering its tracks. By the way, losing weight can improve cognitive functions.
Even in this small example, I want to emphasise that being overweight does not diminish one's ability to think, so it should not be a reason to do nothing.
#spoonfulofreason #psychology #overweight
Studies:
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2022.0208
Is there a role for higher cognitive processes in the development of obesity in humans? Suzanne Higgs Published:24 July 2023 https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2022.0208
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rstb.2022.0227
Causal models and causal modelling in obesity: foundations, methods and evidence
Roger S. Zoh, Xiaoxin Yu, Philip Dawid, George Davey Smith, Stephen J. French and David B. Allison
Published:04 September 2023 https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2022.0227
Photo: timokefoto from Pixabay
My name is Monika. I am a health and nutrition psychologist. I help people with daily and challenging questions about behaviour, thinking, and emotions. I write, give lectures, and provide psychological counselling. You can book my session here: https://calendly.com/saukstasproto/psichologine-konsultacija
Posted Jul 17, 2025, 8:47 AM UTC