Does Your Weight Affect Your Memory

A small study found that fat people have a worse memory than thin people.

17:04 29 February 2016

A recent study published in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology has established a link between being overweight to having minor memory problems.

 

The study was participated by fifty people with a Body Mass Index (BMI) that ranges from 18  (healthy) to 51 (very obese. They were asked to hide objects at different times and on difference scenes displayed on a computer screen. They were later asked to recall what they had hidden, when and where. Obese people scored 15per cent lower than thinner people.

Dr Lucy Cheke, of the University of Cambridge , said: “The suggestion we’re making is that a higher BMI is having some reduction on the vividness of memory, but they’re not drawing blanks and having amnesia.

 

“But if they have a less strong memory of a recent meal, with a less strong impact in the mind, then they may have less ability to regulate how much they eat later on.”

Dr Cheke added: “It is too early to talk in terms of advice, but we are certainly beginning to observe the mechanisms that obesity perpetuates itself.

 

“Concentrating on your food has been a message for a long time, but that may be a bit harder if you’re overweight. Hopefully knowing what’s going on will help us to develop ways of helping people.”