Home cooking, cooking skills and dementia requiring long-term care: a population-based cohort study in Japan
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND: People have come to rely on restaurants and takeaway foods, and less on cooking at home. We examined the association between home cooking and dementia incidence, ascertained through administrative long-term care records, and whether the benefits of home cooking differ by cooking skills. METHODS: Participants in the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study, a population-based cohort study, were followed for 6 years. The incidence of dementia was ascertained in 10 978 participants through data from the public long-term care insurance system, which captures functionally significant cognitive impairment requiring care. Cooking frequency and skills were assessed in a baseline survey. Participants with high and low frequencies of home cooking were matched in men and women based on demographic, socioeconomic and health-related factors using propensity score matching. Fine-Grey competing risk models were used, with death treated as a competing event. RESULTS: During the follow-up, 1195 dementia cases were found. A total of 1347 male and 321 female pairs were matched between high (at least once a week) and low (less than once a week) cooking frequencies. The subdistribution hazard ratio (SHR) for high cooking frequency (vs low cooking frequency) was 0.77 (95% CI 0.61 to 0.98) in men and 0.73 (95% CI 0.54 to 0.98) in women. The benefits of higher cooking frequency were more pronounced in those with low cooking skills (SHR 0.33, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.84). CONCLUSIONS: Creating an environment where people can cook meals when they are older may be important for the prevention of dementia.
Authors: Yukako Tani, Takeo Fujiwara, Katsunori Kondo
Institutions: Institute of Science Tokyo, Chiba University
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Awards: Association between bathing habits and prevention of caregiving, dementia and depression in older people: a cohort study., G194863626, G1968018393, Validation of the Aged Friendly Community (AFC) Indicator: A Natural Experiment Using the Corona Epidemic, G2505963748, G259025536, G260413880, Elucidation of mechanism from built environment to health toward primordial prevention, G3814791677, G3961152268, G4927840523, G5125620655, G5261455304, G539646791, G570605857, Research on mechanism of online social network to maximize child's well-being, Building evidence to establish zero-order prevention of oral frailty, G6904769032, A large-scale longitudinal study promoting the extension of healthy life expectancy and sustainable social participation among older adults., Evaluation and proportion of remote communication among older people during the COVID-19 era, Mechanism on exceeding mental development due to adverse childhood experience: Foundation of Exceeding Development Studies, Effectiveness of community intervention on addressing social determinants of health: a cluster randomized trial, Identifying Features of Built and Natural Environments That Promote Health and Well-Being, G8996434870
OpenAlex ID: W7140186849