The brains of obese children are wired differently, making them eat more compared to children of healthy weight. One way obese kids can avoid eating too much is by practicing mindfulness, a new study suggests.
Mindfulness is "the art of being fully present in the moment," or paying complete attention to the details of the moment, including all associated sensations and thoughts, WebMD says. Researchers from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine said that mindfulness techniques can help children who are at risk of obesity control their food intake and stop the impulse to eat.
"We know the brain plays a big role in obesity in adults, but what we understand about the neurological connections associated with obesity might not apply to children," lead study author BettyAnn Chodkowski said in a press release. "We wanted to look at the way children's brains function in more detail so we can better understand what is happening neurologically in children who are obese."
To do this, the researchers took data from the Enhanced Nathan Kline Institute-Rockland Sample and studied the cases of 38 children aged 8 to 13, six of whom were overweight and five of whom were obese. The children's weight, eating habits and MRI brain scans were among the information obtained.
The researchers found a link between eating behavior and brain function. In children who ate more, the part of the brain associated with impulsive behavior (frontal pole) appeared to work more strongly compared to the part associated with inhibition (inferior parietal lobe).
On the other hand, in children who were able to control their food intake, the part of the brain associated with inhibition appeared to work more strongly compared to the part associated with impulsive behavior.
The researchers believe that practicing mindfulness can help solve the imbalance in these brain functions and prevent obesity particularly in kids who are at risk for obesity.
"We think mindfulness could recalibrate the imbalance in the brain connections associated with childhood obesity," study author Ronald Cowan said in the press release. "Mindfulness has produced mixed results in adults, but so far there have been few studies showing its effectiveness for weight loss in children."
The study was published online Jan. 21 in the journal Heliyon.
