• R Forte, C Pesce, G De Vito, and C A G Boreham.
• Roberta Forte Department of Human Health and Movement Sciences, University of Rome «Foro Italico», Roma 00135, Italy telephone +39 6 36733367 fax +39 6 36733362 e-mail: roberta.forte@uniroma4.it.
• J Nutr Health Aging. 2017 Jan 1; 21 (3): 284-291.

ObjectiveTo examine the relationship between regional and whole body fat accumulation and core cognitive executive functions.DesignCross-sectional study.Settings And Participants78 healthy men and women aged between 65 and 75 years recruited through consumer's database.MeasurementsDXA measured percentage total body fat, android, gynoid distribution and android/gynoid ratio; inhibition and working memory updating through Random Number Generation test and cognitive flexibility by Trail Making test. First-order partial correlations between regional body fat and cognitive executive function were computed partialling out the effects of whole body fat. Moderation analysis was performed to verify the effect of gender on the body fat-cognition relationship.ResultsResults showed a differentiated pattern of fat-cognition relationship depending on fat localization and type of cognitive function. Statistically significant relationships were observed between working memory updating and: android fat (r = -0.232; p = 0.042), gynoid fat (r = 0.333; p = 0.003) and android/gynoid ratio (r = -0.272; p = 0.017). Separating genders, the only significant relationship was observed in females between working memory updating and gynoid fat (r = 0.280; p = 0.045). In spite of gender differences in both working memory updating and gynoid body fat levels, moderation analysis did not show an effect of gender on the relationship between gynoid fat and working memory updating.ConclusionsResults suggest a protective effect of gynoid body fat and a deleterious effect of android body fat. Although excessive body fat increases the risk of developing CDV, metabolic and cognitive problems, maintaining a certain proportion of gynoid fat may help prevent cognitive decline, particularly in older women. Guidelines for optimal body composition maintenance for the elderly should not target indiscriminate weight loss, but weight maintenance through body fat/lean mass control based on non-pharmacological tools such as physical exercise, known to have protective effects against CVD risk factors and age-related cognitive deterioration.

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