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Cognitive function in children and subsequent type 2 diabetes

Gunilla M Olsson1, Anna-Lena Hulting, Scott M Montgomery

  • 1Neuroscience, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. gunilla.olsson@neuro.uu.se

Diabetes Care
|December 18, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Children with lower cognitive abilities, including general ability and reading comprehension, had a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life. This suggests cognitive function may precede diabetes diagnosis.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive science
  • Epidemiology
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Type 2 diabetes is a growing global health concern.
  • Early identification of risk factors is crucial for prevention.
  • The relationship between childhood cognition and adult type 2 diabetes is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between childhood cognitive function and the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes by age 42.
  • To determine if cognitive deficits in childhood predict later type 2 diabetes.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized logistic regression analysis on data from 9,113 participants in the 1958 British birth cohort (National Child Development Study).
  • Assessed cognitive function using general ability and reading comprehension tests at age 11 years.
  • Adjusted for early-life exposures, family characteristics, sex, disability, and childhood BMI.

Main Results:

  • Lower general ability at age 11 was associated with a 33% reduced odds of type 2 diabetes diagnosis by age 42 (OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.51-0.87).
  • Lower reading comprehension at age 11 was associated with a 42% reduced odds of type 2 diabetes diagnosis by age 42 (OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.44-0.77).
  • These associations remained significant after adjusting for childhood BMI and were robust to later onset definitions of type 2 diabetes.

Conclusions:

  • Impaired cognitive function in childhood, specifically in general ability and reading comprehension, is associated with an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
  • Cognitive deficits may serve as an early indicator or precede the clinical manifestation of type 2 diabetes.
  • These findings highlight the potential role of cognitive function in the developmental trajectory of type 2 diabetes.
Abstract

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