| |
| |
| |
Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
 | |
|
| Do dietary patterns influence cognitive function in old age? | | Author(s) | Janie Corley, John M Starr, Geraldine McNeill, Ian J Deary |
| Journal title | International Psychogeriatrics, vol 25, no 9, September 2013 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press, September 2013 |
| Pages | pp 1393-1407 |
| Source | journals.cambridge.org/ipg |
| Keywords | Diet ; Self care capacity ; Children ; Life span ; Ageing process. |
| Annotation | Evidence from observational studies to date suggests that healthy dietary patterns are associated with better cognitive performance in later life. The present study examined the extent to which childhood intelligence quotient (IQ) and socioeconomic status account for this association. Analyses were carried out on 882 participants in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 Study. Four dietary patterns were extracted using principal components analysis of a food frequency questionnaire, namely `Mediterranean-style', `health aware', `traditional' and `sweet foods'. Cognitive function was assessed at the age of 70 years, including general cognitive ability, processing speed, memory and verbal ability. Before adjustment for childhood IQ and socioeconomic status, the `Mediterranean-style' dietary pattern was associated with significantly better cognitive performance, and the `traditional' dietary pattern was associated with poorer performance on all cognitive domains measured in old age. After adjustment for childhood IQ (measured at the age of 11 years) and socioeconomic status, statistical significance was lost for most associations, with the exception of verbal ability and the `Mediterranean-style' pattern. These results suggest a pattern of reverse causation or confounding: a higher childhood cognitive ability (and adult socioeconomic status) predicts adherence to a `healthy' diet and better cognitive performance in old age. These models show no direct link between diet and cognitive performance in old age, but rather they are related via the lifelong-stable trait of intelligence. (JL). |
| Accession Number | CPA-130830216 A |
| Classmark | CFD: CA: SBC: BG6: BG |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
|
| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
| |
|
|