Older adults who struggle to afford food later in life face a sharply higher risk of developing dementia, according to a new study from the University of Michigan. The findings prompt fresh warnings from experts about the hidden dangers of food insecurity in vulnerable, aging populations. "What I find particularly important about these findings is that the association was concentrated in later life," Daniel Preston, founder of LiveInCare USA, a marketplace connecting families with live-in caregivers and home care agencies, told Newsweek.
"After adjustment for a range of socioeconomic and health factors, later-life food insecurity remained associated with higher odds of probable dementia, while food insecurity in midlife alone did not show a statistically significant association." The study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that older adults who experienced food insecurity in both midlife and later life had nearly four times the risk of probable dementia compared with those who remained food secure throughout. The strongest link appeared among people who faced food insecurity specifically in later life, while experiencing food insecurity in midlife alone showed no significant connection to dementia risk. Researchers used data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the longest-running nationally representative household survey in the U.S., run by the university's Institute for Social Research.
The survey allowed them to follow the same families over several decades and examine whether the timing of food insecurity affected cognitive health later on. The study tracked 2,051 adults, examining food insecurity during two periods: midlife, from 1999 to 2003, and later life, from 2015 to 2019. Among participants, 3 percent experienced food insecurity only in midlife, 5.2 percent experienced it only in later life, and 5 percent experienced it during both periods.
Although food-insecure families made up a minority of those studied, the timing of their hardship made a significant difference in their long-term cognitive health. Adults who experienced food insecurity in both midlife and later life had an estimated 40 percent probability of dementia, compared with 11 percent among those who remained food secure throughout. Those who experienced food insecurity only in later life also showed a statistically significant increased probability of 34 percent.
Despite the findings, the researchers say they cannot determine whether food insecurity directly contributes to dementia or whether other related factors explain the connection. Study author Noura Insolera, an assistant research scientist at the Institute for Social Research, pointed to the expansion of federal food assistance during the pandemic as a model worth revisiting. "If there is one thing I could change, it would be to go back to the generosity of benefits that SNAP was able to provide during the pandemic," she said in a statement.
"The federal government was able to swiftly intervene and help American families in a very successful way. If those levels of benefit would have been kept, we might not see the increases in food insecurity we have seen since those benefits expired." Preston cautioned against reading the findings as proof that food insecurity causes dementia, noting the researchers acknowledged the possibility of reverse causation and unmeasured factors, and that the study relied on a screening tool rather than a clinical diagnosis. "The encouraging aspect is that food insecurity is potentially addressable," Preston said.
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