summary: Food insecurity was associated with accelerated cognitive decline and brain aging in older adults.
sauce: Pennsylvania
Food-insecure seniors are more likely to experience malnutrition, depression and physical limitations that affect their lives.The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest federally funded program in the United States. nutrition assistance program, and research shows that SNAP has reduced hunger and food insecurity in the general population.
However, there is little evidence on how SNAP affects brain aging in older adults. To fill this knowledge gap, Muzi Na, an assistant professor of nutritional sciences at Penn State University, led a research team investigating the relationship between food insecurity, SNAP, and cognitive decline. They found that food sufficiency and participation in SNAP may help prevent accelerated cognitive decline in older adults.
In a new article published in journal of nutritionResearchers used data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study from 2012 to 2020 to analyze a representative sample of 4,578 older adults in the United States. Participants reported experiencing food insecurity and were categorized as food-adequate or food-poor.
SNAP status was defined as SNAP participants, SNAP eligible nonparticipants, and SNAP ineligible nonparticipants. Researchers found that food-insecure adults experienced more rapid cognitive decline than food-stable adults.
Researchers used food deprivation or SNAP conditions to identify different trajectories of cognitive decline. Rates of cognitive decline were similar in the SNAP participant and his SNAP-ineligible nonparticipants, both slower than those of his SNAP-eligible nonparticipants.
The greater rate of cognitive decline observed in the food insecurity group corresponded to 3.8 years older, and the greater rate of cognitive decline observed in the SNAP-eligible non-participants group corresponded to 4.5 years older.
“For the elderly, about four years of brain aging is very important,” Na explained. “It really shows the value SNAP can have in helping people get older. We need to make SNAP programs accessible and encourage people to use them as they age.”
Future research is warranted to address food insecurity and investigate the impact of promoting SNAP participation on the cognitive health of older adults.
Nan Dou of Pennsylvania State University, Monique Brown of the University of South Carolina, Lenis Chen-Edinboro of the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Loretta Anderson of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and Alexandra Wennberg of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm all contributed to the study. contributed to
Funding: This research was supported by funding from the Broadhurst Career Development Professor for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research and the National Institute of Mental Health.
About this Aging, Cognitive and Poverty Research News
author: Sarah Lajeunes
sauce; Pennsylvania
contact: Sarah Lajeunes – Pennsylvania State University
image: image is public domain
Original research: open access.
“Nine-year trajectories of food insecurity, supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) status, and cognitive function in older adults: A Longitudinal National Health and Aging Trends Survey, 2012–2020’ Muzi Na et al. journal of nutrition
See also
overview
Nine-year trajectories of food insecurity, supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) status, and cognitive function in older adults: A Longitudinal National Health and Aging Trends Survey, 2012–2020
Background
Despite results from cross-sectional studies, it is not fully understood how food insecurity experience/supplemental nutritional assistance program (SNAP) status is associated with cognitive decline over time. yeah.
the purpose
We aimed to investigate the longitudinal association between food insecurity/SNAP status and cognitive function in older adults (65 years and older).
method
Longitudinal data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study 2012–2020 were analyzed (n = 4578, median follow-up = 5 years). Participants reported their food insecurity experience (5 items) and were categorized as food adequate (FS, no positive responses) and food inadequate (FI, all positive responses). SNAP status was defined as SNAP participants, SNAP eligible nonparticipants (≤200% federal poverty line, FPL), and SNAP ineligible nonparticipants (>200% FPL). Cognitive function was measured via validated tests in three domains and standardized domain-specific and combined cognitive z-scores were calculated. Mixed-effects models with random intercepts were used to adjust for static and time-varying covariates to determine how FI or SNAP status is associated with combined and domain-specific cognitive z-scores over time studied.
result
At baseline, 96.3% of participants were FS and 3.7% were FI. In the subsample (n = 2832), 10.8% were SNAP participants, 30.7% were SNAP eligible nonparticipants, and 58.6% were SNAP ineligible nonparticipants.FI was associated with faster decline in composite cognitive scores compared to the FS group in the adjusted model (FI vs. FS) [−0.043 (−0.055, −0.032) vs. −0.033 (−0.035, −0.031) z-scores per year, P-interaction = 0.064]The rate of cognitive decline (annual z-score) for the total score was higher in SNAP participants (β = -0.030; 95% CI: -0.038, -0.022) and SNAP ineligible nonparticipants (β = -0.028; 95%). CI: -0.032, -0.024), both slower than those of SNAP-eligible non-participants (β = -0.043; 95% CI: -0.048, -0.038; P.– interaction < 0.0001).
Conclusion
Food sufficiency and participation in SNAP may be protective factors to prevent accelerated cognitive decline in older adults.
