Measurement matters: Higher waist-to-hip ratio but not body mass index is associated with deficits in executive functions and episodic memory

• Main Authors: HARTANTO, Andree, YONG, Jose C.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2018
• Subjects: Body mass index; Executive functions; Waist-to-hip ratio; Episodic memory; Cognition and Perception; Mental and Social Health; Psychology
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2732; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/3989/viewcontent/peerj_5624.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Background: The current study aimed to reconcile the inconsistentfindings between obesity, executive functions, and episodic memory byaddressing major limitations of previous studies, including overreliance onbody mass index (BMI), small sample sizes, and failure to control forconfounds.Methods: Participants consisted of 3,712 midlife adults from theCognitive Project of the National Survey of Midlife Development. Executivefunctions and episodic memory were measured by a battery of cognitive functiontests.Results: We found that higher waist-to-hip ratio was associated withdeficits in both executive functions and episodic memory, above and beyond theinfluence of demographics, comorbid health issues, health behaviors,personality traits, and self-perceived obesity. However, higher BMI was notassociated with deficits in executive functions and episodic memory. Moreimportantly, these differential associations were robust and stable acrossadulthood.Discussion: Our findings confirm the association between obesity andepisodic memory while highlighting the need for better measures of obesity whenexamining its associations with individual differences in cognitive functions.