Body fat composition as a determinan of cognition functions in elementary school students

Abstract

The prevalence of over nutrition problems which include overweight and obesity shows an increasing tendency also =experienced by school-age children. This condition causes excess energy which is then stored in the form of fat tissue. Cognitive is one of the important aspects of the development of generations that are directly related to the learning process, and greatly determine their success in school. Excessive adipose tissue in the body will affect the development of cognitive function through the mechanism of secretion of cytokines and growth hormones. The purpose of this study was to examine the composition of body fat as a determinant of the development of cognitive functions in school-aged children in Mojokerto. The study design used is correlation analysis with cross sectional approach. The population were all 4-5 grade students at Mlirip II Elementary School in Mojokerto. The sampling technique used total sampling of the entire population. Data analysis used Rank Spearman test. The result that the significance value (2-tailed) is 0.008 that less than 0.05, so there is a significant composition of body fat is one determinant of cognitive abilities. Macronutrients associated with cognitive function are fat levels. Fat levels can affect cognitive function through the mechanism of secretion of cytokines and growth hormones.