Nutritional Status and Physical Exercise Are Associated with Cognitive Function in Chinese Community-Dwelling Older Adults: The Role of Happiness

Abstract

We aim to assess the relationship between nutrition status, physical exercise, and cognitive function and particularly examine how happiness modifies and mediates the relationship, among 699 seniors aged 60 and above in Shanghai, China. Linear regression models were used to validate the effects of nutrition and exercise on cognitive function and to test their interaction effects with happiness. When the interactions were significant, stratified analyses in sub-groups were conducted. Mediation effects of happiness were examined using two-step causal mediation models. We confirmed that better nutrition (p < 0.001) and exercise (p = 0.009) were significantly associated with less cognitive decline. Furthermore, the effects of nutrition and exercise on cognitive decline were significant in the unhappy (happiness < 20) (p < 0.001) and younger (age < 74) sub-groups (p = 0.015). Happiness partially mediated 11.5% of the negative association of cognitive decline with nutrition (p = 0.015) and 23.0% of that with exercise (p = 0.017). This study suggests that happiness moderates and partially mediates the effects of exercise and nutrition on cognitive status. The beneficial effects of exercise and nutrition were stronger in less happy or younger seniors. Future intervention studies are required to confirm this path relationship.

Sensorineural hearing loss and cognitive impairment: three hypotheses

“…Cognitive function ( CF ) refers to the processes by which the human brain receives external information, processes it, and converts it into internal mental activity in order to acquire knowledge or apply it. CF encompasses memory, language skills, visuospatial abilities, executive functions, computational skills, and comprehension judgments ( Liu et al, 2024 ; Mellow et al, 2024 ). Cognitive impairment (CI) refers to a pathological process in which abnormalities exist in the higher intellectual processes of the brain related to learning and memory as well as thinking and judgment ( Sanford, 2017 ).…”