Background: Food insecurity remains a global public health problem. Experiencing food insecurity is related to poorer cognitive function among older adults. However, few studies have examined how food insecurity, experienced over the life-course, relates to cognitive function among older adults in Mexico. Methods: Data came from the 2015 Mexican Health and Aging Study (n = 11,507 adults aged 50 and over). Early- and late-life food insecurity were ascertained by self-report. We evaluated how both measures of food insecurity related to the performance of multiple cognitive tasks (Verbal Learning, Verbal Recall, Visual Scanning, and Verbal Fluency), while controlling for key health and sociodemographic confounders using linear regression. Results: In descriptive analyses, respondents who experienced food insecurity in either early or late life performed significantly worse on all cognitive tasks when compared to the food secure. In models adjusted for health and sociodemographic confounders, early-life food insecurity predicted worse Verbal Learning performance and late-life food insecurity was associated with poorer Visual Scanning performance. Conclusions: Food insecurity was related to poorer cognitive function in a nationally representative sample of older adults in Mexico. However, results suggested that the significance of effects depended on cognitive task and when in the life-course food insecurity was experienced.

Food insecurity is a global public health problem and is related with poorer cognition among older adults. Few have examined how food insecurity, throughout life, relates with cognition among older Mexican adults. Data came from the 2015 Mexican Health and Aging Study (n=11,507, aged 50+). Early- and late-life food insecurity were self-reported. We evaluated how food insecurity related with cognition (Verbal Learning, Verbal Recall, Visual Scanning, and Verbal Fluency), controlling for health and sociodemographic confounders. In descriptive analyses, respondents who experienced food insecurity in early- or late-life performed worse on all cognitive tasks compared to the food secure. When adjusting for health and sociodemographic confounders, early-life food insecurity predicted worse Verbal Learning performance and late-life food insecurity related with poorer Visual Scanning. Food insecurity negatively related with cognition among older Mexican adults. The significance of effects depended on cognitive task and when in life food insecurity was experienced