Older adults who experienced food insecurity in both midlife and later life had nearly four times the risk of probable dementia as those who remained food secure, according to new University of Michigan research.
The study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found the strongest association among people experiencing food insecurity later in life. Researchers found no significant association between food insecurity in midlife alone and probable dementia.
Food insecurity is often discussed in terms of hunger and access to adequate nutrition, but researchers increasingly are examining its potential connections to health across the life course.
The study used longitudinal data from the Institute for Social Research Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the longest-running nationally representative household panel survey in the United States. The survey allowed researchers to track food insecurity within the same families over decades and examine whether the timing of food insecurity was associated with cognitive health in later years.
“Not only can we now track the changes one family experiences, but by collecting this information for decades, we can examine different parts of the life course,” said Noura Insolera, assistant research scientist at ISR.
This study followed 2,051 adults and looked at whether they experienced food insecurity at two different periods: midlife (1999–2003) and later life (2015–2019). Of the total adults studied, 3% experienced food insecurity only in midlife, 5.2% experienced it only in later life and 5% experienced it during both periods.
While food-insecure families are in the minority, when it occurred mattered. The association with probable dementia was concentrated among those who experienced food insecurity in later life, rather than midlife alone.
The findings suggest that food insecurity in later adulthood may be particularly important to cognitive health. However, the study cannot determine whether food insecurity itself contributes to dementia or whether other factors associated with food insecurity help explain the relationship.
“Food insecurity has different adverse impacts across the life course,” Insolera said. “If you have been to the doctor recently, there are often screening questions for food security upon intake, but health practitioners are often at a loss when tasked with helping their patients.”
The people who experienced food insecurity in both midlife and later life have an estimated probability of dementia of 40% as compared with 11% of those who were food secure in both midlife and later life. Those who reported food insecurity in later-life only also saw a statistically significant increased probability of 34%.
“As individuals age, there are many factors, including financial safety, community, family and government programs that help to make sure needs are met,” Insolera explained. “If someone is forced to choose to pay a bill that may accrue interest if unpaid or spend less money on food, the food is often seen as the easier option to forgo.”
The findings also raise questions about how health care providers and policymakers can respond to food insecurity, researchers said.
Journal: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Article Title: Associations between mid-life and later-life food insecurity on probable dementia in a national sample of United States adults
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2026.101386
Article Publication Date: 27-Aug-2026
Source: University of Michigan