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Childhood hunger may slow cognitive decline later on

Black children who faced early adversity — such as going hungry — had slower cognitive decline as they aged, according to study data recently published in Neurology.

“The childhood social environment is rarely examined as a potential source of variance in healthy aging,” study researcher Lisa L. Barnes, PhD, of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, told Psychiatric Annals. “I think it also points to the incredible resilience of populations who have undergone extreme adversity in early life, and that adversity doesn’t always lead to bad outcomes.”

 

Lisa L. Barnes

The study included 6,158 black and white participants with a mean age of 75 years who were enrolled in the Chicago Health and Aging Project, a population-based study of Alzheimer’s disease risk factors. Study participants were interviewed every 3 years for up to 16 years, completing a baseline evaluation of early life adversity and cognitive function evaluations every three years.

For whites, there was no relationship between childhood adversity and cognitive decline. However, among blacks, the 5.8% who reported going without enough food to eat sometimes, often or always were more likely to have slower cognitive decline vs. those who rarely or never went without enough food to eat. The 8.4% of blacks who reported that they were much thinner than average at 12 years of age than similar-aged children were also more likely to have slower cognitive decline compared with those who were about average or heavier than average.

The results remained the same even after controlling for factors such as education (P<.01) and cardiovascular conditions.

The biological basis of the association is not known, according to the researchers. One possible explanation could be calorie restriction, which some evidence, mostly from animal research, suggests might delay the onset of age-related physiological changes, increasing lifespan. Another explanation for the relationship between early adversity and slower cognitive decline could be survivability.

“The older people in the study who experienced childhood adversity may be the hardiest and most resilient of their era,” Barnes said. “Those with the most extreme adversity may have died before they reached old age.”

Disclosure:The study was funded by grants from the National Institute on Aging; the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.