Adults over 65 whose weight decreases or fluctuates more than 5% may experience faster cognitive decline, researchers in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at Penn State found. The research suggests that monitoring older adult weight could reveal more information about protecting cognitive health.
“We conducted three different types of analysis on how those measures compared to cognitive decline,” said Muzi Na, associate professor of nutritional sciences at Penn State and senior author of the study. “Any way we looked at the data, the relationship was crystal clear — the more a person’s weight varied from year to year, the faster that person experienced cognitive decline.”
The findings, which were published in the journal Obesity, are based on an analysis of 4,304 older adults who participated in the National Health and Aging Trends Study between 2011 and 2021. Participants were grouped by their weight variations over the course of the study. Those with the lowest variations demonstrated the lowest amount of cognitive decline while those with the highest variations demonstrated between two and four times as much cognitive decline.
Both losing at least 5% of one’s weight and cycling between weight loss and gain of at least 5% of one’s weight are associated with faster cognitive decline, according to another analysis. Those whose weight remained stable exhibited the same cognitive decline as those who gained weight. However, researchers make clear that this does not imply gaining weight is a good idea for older adults.
“Mid-life obesity is a known risk factor for cognitive decline later in life, but there is an ‘obesity paradox’ associating late-life obesity with a healthier cognitive trajectory,” Na said. “Some studies have revealed a complex interplay between age-related muscle mass loss and fat gain in older adults, and our study does not suggest older adults should gain weight.”