Association between Body Mass Index and Cognitive Function among Chinese Nonagenarians/Centenarians

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 1 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 1 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 ChiAccepted: October 19, 2010 Published online: January 20, 2011 Bi-Rong Dong Department of Geriatrics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University Guoxuexiang 37 Chengdu, Sichuang 610041 (China) Tel. +86 189 806