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Calorie Intake and Cognitive Function in the Elderly: Data from the Korean Frailty and Aging Cohort Study (KFACS)

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The journal of nutrition, health & aging

Abstract

This study aimed to clarify the association between calorie intake and cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults. A cross-sectional analysis was performed on the first-year baseline data of 1559 adults aged 70–84 years using population data from the Korean Frailty and Aging Cohort Study. We included 543 participants who participated in nutritional surveys and accurately responded regarding their daily calorie intake. Daily ingestion was measured using the 24-hour dietary recall method, and neuropsychological tests evaluated cognitive characteristics. Logistic regression models were utilized to calculate odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The prevalence rate of cognitive impairment was 8%. Subjects with cognitive impairment mainly showed memory loss. After adjusting the confounding factors, participants who had less than the recommended intake were susceptible to cognitive impairment compared to those who that had the proposed intake (adjusted OR: 7.70, 95% CI: 1.01–58.45). We showed that lesser calorie intake than the recommended intake increases the ORs of cognitive impairment. We suggest that an adequate calorie intake protects against cognitive decline, and further studies are essential to investigate the influence of calorie intake reduction on the elderly before widespread application.

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Acknowledgement

This research was supported by a grant of the Korea Health Technology R & D Project through the Korean Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (grant number: HI15C3153) and a National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2017R1A2B4012775).

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  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Nursing Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, 02447, Republic of Korea

    J.-M. Park & Youn-Jung Kim

  2. Department of Nursing, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    J. Lee & Y. Kim

  3. Elderly Frailty Research Center, Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, 02447, Republic of Korea

    Chang Won Won

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  1. J.-M. Park
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Correspondence to Chang Won Won or Youn-Jung Kim.

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Park, JM., Lee, J., Kim, Y. et al. Calorie Intake and Cognitive Function in the Elderly: Data from the Korean Frailty and Aging Cohort Study (KFACS). J Nutr Health Aging 23, 930–936 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-019-1249-z

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