%0 Journal Article %T Cool executive functioning predicts not only mean levels but also individual 3 %A Birgit Elsner %A Nele Lensing %J International Journal of Behavioral Development %@ 1464-0651 %D 2019 %R 10.1177/0165025419833818 %X Executive functions (EFs) may help children to regulate their food-intake in an ¡°obesogenic¡± environment, where energy-dense food is easily available. There is mounting evidence that overweight is associated with diminished hot and cool EFs, and several longitudinal studies found evidence for a predictive effect of hot EFs on children¡¯s bodyweight, but longitudinal research examining the effect of cool EF on weight development in children is still scarce. The current 3-year longitudinal study examined the effect of a latent cool EF factor, which was based on three behavioral EF tasks, on subsequent mean levels and 3-year growth trajectories of body-mass-index z-scores (zBMI). Data from a large sample of children, with zBMI ranging from normal weight to obesity (n = 1474, aged 6¨C11 years at T1, 52% girls) was analyzed using structural-equation modeling and linear latent growth-curve modeling. Cool EF at the first wave (T1) negatively predicted subsequent zBMI and zBMI development throughout the 3-year period in middle childhood such that children with better EF had a lower zBMI and less steep zBMI growth. These effects were not moderated by the children¡¯s age or gender. In conclusion, as early as in middle childhood, cool EFs seem to support the self-regulation of food-intake and consequently may play a causal role in the multifactorial etiology of overweight %K BMI development %K zBMI %K middle childhood %K cool executive functioning %K self-regulation %K longitudinal %K growth-curve model %U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0165025419833818