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Association between body mass index and cognitive function among Chinese nonagenarians/centenarians
Yan Zhou1, Joseph H Flaherty, Chang-Quan Huang
1Department of Geriatrics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Guoxuexiang 37, Chengdu, Sichuang, China. hxzhouyan@hotmail.com
Aims:
We examined the individual association between body mass index (BMI) and cognitive function among the very elderly.
Methods:
The present study analyzed data from a survey that was conducted on all residents aged 90 years or more from a district which had 2,311,709 inhabitants in 2005. The subjects were divided into 4 groups according to quartiles of BMI (<16.6, 16.6-18.9, 18.9-21.1 and >21.1), and according to classification criteria of underweight, normal weight, overweight and obesity in BMI (<18.5, 18.5-23.0, 23.0-27.5 and >27.5), respectively.
Results:
The subjects included in the statistical analysis were 211 men and 427 women. Those in the 3rd quartile of BMI (18.9-21.1) had higher cognitive function scores (p < 0.001) and were less likely to present possible dementia (p = 0.016) than the others. However, there was no difference in cognitive function scores (p = 0.350) or prevalence of possible dementia (p = 0.263) among obesity, overweight, normal weight and underweight groups.
Conclusions:
Concerning longevity in Chinese, there is an association between BMI and cognitive function. BMI of around 20 (18.9-21.1) is associated with the lowest risk of prevalence of possible dementia and the highest cognitive function scores.
