Do overweight students have lower academic performance than their classmates? A pilot cross sectional study in a middle school in Tehran

BACKGROUND: Recently the special attention is given to psychological aspects of childhood obesity in overweight and obese children. The present pilot study aims to investigate the association of obesity and lipid profile with school performance among Iranian students. METHODS: 69 middle school male students between the ages of 12 to 14 in 2009–2010 were studied. BMI was considered as the obesity index. The students’ Grade Point Average (GPA) along with their scores in math, geometry, calculus, English and absent rate were obtained as academic performance. Serum lipid profile was also assessed by a uniform method. RESULTS: The GPA score, math and geometry scores were lower in overweight students in comparison with control group. The study of serum lipid profile indices showed no significant statistical association between serum lipid profile and school performance. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support previous findings pointing out the negative effects of obesity on students’ school performance.