Dietary patterns of Korean older adults and cognitive function

Abstract

The objective of the study was to investigate the association between dietary patterns and cognitive function in Korean older adults. The subjects were 808 older adults participating in the Yangpyeong Cohort Study between July 2009 and August 2010. Dietary intake was estimated by using a 106-items food frequency questionnaire. Cognitive function was assessed by Korean version Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE-KC). Factor analysis using the principal component analysis method was applied to identify major dietary patterns. Four major dietary patterns were derived: 1) vegetables, seaweeds, fruits, mushroom, potatoes, fish, seafood, nuts, and green tea (healthy pattern without dairy foods); 2) meat, chicken, eggs, bread, flour based food, and coffee (western pattern); 3) dairy foods, soybean milk, seafood, fruits, mushroom, and snack (healthy pattern with dairy foods); 4) white rice (white rice pattern). Healthy pattern with dairy foods was inversely related to the risk of cognitive impairment after adjusting for confounders (4th v. 1st quartile, OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.38–0.87, P for trend=0.010). White rice pattern was positively associated with the risk of cognitive impairment after adjusting for confounders (4th v. 1st quartile, OR 2.14, 95% CI 1.37–3.33, P for trend=0.011). This study suggests that a healthy diet with dairy foods may have a beneficial effect on preventing or postponing cognitive impairment. Whereas, eating mainly white rice without other balanced side dishes may increase the risk of cognitive impairment.