Research Article

Early Life Cognitive Abilities and Body Weight: Cross-Sectional Study of the Association of Inhibitory Control, Cognitive Flexibility, and Sustained Attention with BMI Percentiles in Primary School Children

Table 1

Descriptive characteristics of the Baden-Württemberg Study sample and the KiTAP subsamples.

Baden-Württemberg Study sample 
( = 1944)
Missing valuesCognitive subsample 
( = 498)
Missing  valuesFinal subsamplea
( = 297)

Child characteristics
 Age, m (sd)7.1 (0.6)07.0 (0.6)07.1 (0.6)
 Female, (%)949 (48.8)0250 (50.2)0141 (47.5)
 BMI percentiles, m (sd)49.0 (27.9)5148.2 (26.9)245.2 (26.3)
 Weight group, national reference data, (%) [37]
  Underweight (<10 BMI percentile)
  Overweight (>90 and ≤97 BMI percentile)
  Obese (>97 BMI percentile)
148 (7.8)
108 (5.7)
82 (4.3)
5136 (7.3)
25 (5.0)
17 (3.4)
225 (8.4)
14 (4.7)
6 (2.0)
 Weight group, international reference data, (%) [38]  
  Underweight
  Overweight
  Obese
78 (4.0)
190 (10.0)
74 (3.9)
50 (10.0)
46 (9.2)
15 (3.0)
35 (11.8)
22 (7.4)
4 (1.3)
 TV consumption > 60 minutes/day, (%)242 (14.3)25465 (14.9)6137 (12.5)
 Days/week with at least 60 minutes MVPA, m (sd)2.7 (1.7)3212.8 (1.7)812.8 (1.7)
 SSB consumption > once/week, (%)416 (24.4)24295 (21.6)5858 (19.5)
 Never/rarely having breakfast, (%)223 (13.0)23760 (13.7)5835 (11.8)
Parental characteristics
 Tertiary parent education level, (%)522 (32.2)324148 (35.4)80115 (38.7)
 Migration background, (%)525 (31.9)298156 (36.4)7097 (32.7)
 Mother’s BMI24.1 (4.5)36123.9 (4.5)8924.1 (4.8)
 Father’s BMI 28.5 (4.1)48127.9 (3.9)12127.8 (4.0)

Note.  aCases with complete data on cognitive, anthropometric, sociodemographic, family, and lifestyle variables. MVPA = moderate to vigorous physical activity. SSB = sugar-sweetened beverages.