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Association of Dietary Quality with Cognitive Function in Chinese Adults Aged 55 Years and Above: A Longitudinal Study

  • Original Research
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The journal of nutrition, health & aging

Abstract

Objectives

Diet is an important modifiable factor for brain health and aging. Present study aimed to explore association of dietary quality with cognitive function and poor cognition in middle-aged and older adults participating in the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS).

Design

A longitudinal study with a twenty-year follow-up.

Setting and Participants

Data were drawn from the CHNS 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2015 and 2018. Subjects aged 55 years and more who participated in at least two waves and had completed data on socio-demographics, lifestyle, disease history, anthropometrics, dietary measure and cognitive assessment were eligible in present study.

Methods

Baseline diet were assessed by 3-day 24-hour dietary recalls and used to evaluate diet quality via China Elderly Dietary Guidelines Index 2022 (CDGI 2022-E). Cognitive function was examined using part items of the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status-modified. Three-level linear mixed effects models and three-level mixed effects logistic regression models were performed to estimate the association between diet quality and cognitive function and odds of poor cognition, respectively.

Results

At baseline, 4173 subjects with median age of 63.7 years were recruited. Median of CDGI 2022-E total score was 44.7. Median score of global cognition was 16.0, and the proportion of people with poor cognitive function was 13.9%. Difference in global cognitive score was observed by tertiles of CDGI 2022-E (p<0.05). Significant associations of high diet quality with increment in global cognitive score [β (95%CI): 0.704 (0.394∼1.015)], composite cognitive z score [0.086 (0.045∼0.128)] and standardized verbal memory score [0.221 (0.122∼0.320)] were observed in total subjects. Consistent associations were also found in those below 65 years at baseline. The likelihood of poor cognition in the highest tertile of CDGI 2022-E decreased by 18% (95%CI: 0.698∼0.965) relative to the lowest tertile group in total population.

Conclusions

High diet quality may be beneficial for improving cognitive function and delaying cognitive decline in Chinese middle-aged and older population.

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Funding

This work was funded by the Abbott Research Fund for Food Nutrition and Safety from Chinese Institute of Food Science and Technology (2019–27). The CHNS has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01 HD30880), the National Institute on Aging (R01 AG065357), the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK104371 and R01HL108427) and the NIH Fogarty International Center grant (D43 TW009077).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute for Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention/Key Laboratory of Trace Element Nutrition, National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing, 100050, China

    X. Jia, C. Su, W. Du, X. Zhang, L. Wang, F. Huang, J. Bai, Y. Wei, Z. Wang, B. Zhang & Huijun Wang

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  1. X. Jia
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  2. C. Su
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  3. W. Du
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  4. X. Zhang
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  9. Z. Wang
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  10. B. Zhang
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  11. Huijun Wang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Huijun Wang.

Ethics declarations

The CHNS was approved by the Ethics Committee of National Institute for Nutrition and Health (No. 201524). All subjects gave their informed consent for inclusion before participation.

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Jia, X., Su, C., Du, W. et al. Association of Dietary Quality with Cognitive Function in Chinese Adults Aged 55 Years and Above: A Longitudinal Study. J Nutr Health Aging 27, 514–523 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-023-1941-x

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