Does food insuffciency in childhood contribute to dementia in later life?

Abstract

Background: Despite several studies attempting to identify the risk factors for dementia, little is known about the impact of childhood living conditions on cognitive function in later life. The present study aims to examine the unique contribution of food insuffciency in childhood to dementia in old age. Methods: Data for this study of 2,745 older Malaysians aged 60 years and older was obtained from a national survey entitled “Mental Health and Quality of Life of Older Malaysians” conducted from 2003 through 2005 using a cross-sectional design. The Geriatric Mental State-Automated Geriatric Examination for Computer Assisted Taxonomy was used to measure dementia. A multiple binary logistic regression using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21 was conducted to assess the unique effect of food insuffciency in childhood on developing dementia in old age. Results: A notably higher prevalence of dementia was found in respondents who indicated they had experienced food insuffciency in childhood than in their food-suffcient counterparts (23.5% versus 14.3%). The fndings from multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that food insuffciency in childhood would independently increase the risk of developing dementia in old age by 81%, after adjusting for sociodemographic factors (odds ratio =1.81, 95% confdence interval 1.13–2.92, P,0.01). Conclusion: Findings from the present study showing that food insuffciency in early life signifcantly contributes to dementia in later life highlight the importance of childhood living conditions in maintaining cognitive function in old age. It is, therefore, suggested that older adults with childhood food insuffciency might be targeted for programs designed to prevent dementia.