Trouble sleeping, a common concern among the elderly, has now been shown to have a substantial association with obesity in older adults, as per recent findings published in the Journal of Affective Disorders (DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.01.112). Researchers have taken an unprecedented deep dive into the underlying mechanisms of this relationship, focusing specifically on the roles of depressive symptoms and cognitive function.
The alarming rise in obesity rates across various age groups has raised public health concerns, spurring extensive research into the contributing factors and associated health outcomes. In the elderly, this intersection of health factors becomes particularly intricate due to the interplay of biopsychosocial elements that come with aging.
The study, leveraging data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011-2014, incorporated a cross-sectional design to examine a sample size of 2575 participants aged 60 years and above. Wang Liqun from the Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics at Ningxia Medical University, along with a team of researchers, not only measured obesity, depressive symptoms, and cognitive function objectively but also assessed trouble sleeping through self-reported questionnaires.
The cognitive function tests included the Established Consortium for Word Learning in Alzheimer’s Disease (CERAD-WL) focusing on immediate learning, recall, and delayed recall, the Animal Fluency Test (AFT), and the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST). The findings provided an insightful moderated mediation model, showing that trouble sleeping directly correlates with obesity, with depressive symptoms serving as a partial mediator in the relationship. Notably, the study highlighted that higher cognitive function, as measured by the DSST, buffered the impact of trouble sleeping on depressive symptoms.
This insight into the moderated role of cognitive function is groundbreaking, as it suggests that interventions aimed at preserving or improving cognitive abilities in the elderly could be a strategic approach to mitigating the risk of obesity linked to poor sleep and depression.
However, the authors noted the limitations inherent to cross-sectional study designs, cautioning against making causal inferences. Furthermore, they acknowledged that relying partly on self-reported information could introduce a degree of subjectivity into the findings.
Despite these limitations, the study sheds new light on the intricate dynamics between trouble sleeping and obesity and suggests a multipronged approach to tackling obesity in older adults that focuses on improving sleep, managing depressive symptoms, and enhancing cognitive function.
The published article in the Journal of Affective Disorders (Wang et al., 2024) is a significant addition to the field of geriatric research and may influence future public health policies aimed at the aging population.
Keywords
1. Sleep and Obesity Connection
2. Cognitive Function in Elderly
3. Depressive Symptoms Mediation
4. NHANES Study on Aging
5. Moderated Mediation Model Elderly
References
1. Wang, L., Sun, Y., Li, Y., He, L., Niu, Y., & Yan, N. (2024). The association between trouble sleeping and obesity among the U.S. elderly from NHANES 2011-2014: A moderated mediation model of depressive symptoms and cognitive function. Journal of Affective Disorders, 350, 58–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2024.01.112
2. Flegal, K. M., Kruszon-Moran, D., Carroll, M. D., Fryar, C. D., & Ogden, C. L. (2016). Trends in Obesity Among Adults in the United States, 2005 to 2014. JAMA, 315(21), 2284–2291. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2016.6458
3. Buysse, D. J. (2014). Sleep Health: Can We Define It? Does It Matter? Sleep, 37(1), 9–17. https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.3298
4. Alexopoulos, G. S. (2005). Depression in the elderly. The Lancet, 365(9475), 1961-1970. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(05)66665-2
5. Stern, Y. (2012). Cognitive reserve in ageing and Alzheimer’s disease. The Lancet Neurology, 11(11), 1006-1012. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(12)70191-6
With this comprehensive analysis, the scientific community is poised to develop new strategies tailored to the needs of an aging population. The nexus between sleep disturbances, psychological well-being, and cognitive agility forms a framework for addressing obesity in older adults that goes beyond simple lifestyle changes, advocating for a more integrative approach to healthy aging.
