Childhood obesity is a serious problem in the United States. Despite recent declines in the prevalence among preschool-aged children, obesity among children is still too high. For children and adolescents aged 2-19 years, the prevalence of obesity has remained fairly stable at about 17 percent and 12.7 million children and adolescents for the past decade.

To combat this problem, mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) targeting eating behaviors have gained popularity in recent years. Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention on the present, observing thoughts and feelings from a distance, without judging them good or bad.

Observational evidence suggests MBIs may reduce impulsivity and improve diet and physical activity. A study published in 2015 showed that mindfulness training in adjunct to traditional health education improved dietary habits and physical activity among teenagers by reducing impulsive behavior and improving planning skills.

Now, a new brain study reveals how mindfulness could help prevent obesity in children. This research suggests the balance in brain networks in children who are obese is different compared to healthy-weight children, making them more prone to overeating. According to lead author Betty Ann Chodkowski, from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, although the brain plays a big role in obesity in adults, the neurological connections associated with obesity might not apply to children.

Researchers wanted to look at the way children's brains function in more detail to better understand what is happening neurologically in obese children, so they defined three areas of the brain that may be associated with weight and eating habits:

• the inferior parietal lobe, which is associated with inhibition, the ability to override an automatic response (in this case eating)
• the frontal pole, which is associated with impulsivity
• the nucleus accumbens, which is associated with reward

The researchers used data collected by the Enhanced Nathan Kline Institute-Rockland Sample from 38 children ages 8-13 years. Five of the children were classified as obese, and six were overweight. Data included children's weights and their answers to the Child Eating Behaviour Questionnaire, which describes the children's eating habits. The researchers also used MRI scans that showed the function of the three regions of the brain they wanted to study.

The results revealed a preliminary link between weight, eating behavior and balance in brain function. In children who ate more, the part of the brain associated with being impulsive appeared to be more strongly connected than the part of the brain associated with inhibition. In children who behaved in ways that helped them avoid food, the part of the brain associated with inhibition was more strongly connected compared to the part of the brain associated with being impulsive.

From an evolutionary perspective, children are primed toward eating more because food is necessary to grow and survive. But researchers point out that in today's world — full of readily available, highly advertised, energy-dense foods — eating more is putting children at risk of obesity.

According to Dr. Ronald L. Cowan, from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, mindfulness could recalibrate the imbalance in the brain connections associated with childhood obesity.

Mindfulness has produced mixed results in adults, but few studies have thus far demonstrated its effectiveness for weight loss in children. Researchers in this study concluded that long-lasting weight-loss maintenance may be elusive because, in addition to changing eating habits and physical activities, one must also change brain function.