Academic Achievement of Obese Students: Working Memory

In several large cities, Indonesia has grown very rapidly at fast food outlets. This makes it easy for parents / caregivers to buy food for children. Coupled with a lack of regular physical activity (sports / playing in the field), this has the potential to increase the number of obese children. Several previous studies have shown a link between academic achievement and body mass index. Even found differences in academic achievement between students based on four BMI categories (under, normal, over, obese). Children with normal weight have better performance than other categories. Through this literature study, the authors found that students who were classified as overweight and obese experienced interference with their cognitive executive functions. In the learning process, working memory has an important role. In obese students, the working memory function has decreased and poor academic performance. Researchers assume that there are disorders in metabolism that affect cognitive performance. The purpose of this literature review is to become the basic of other applied research in the future. We need to help children learn more effective, specially at elementary school. Keywords: academic achievement, working memory, obese, elementary students