Cooking Weekly at Home Tied to Lower Dementia Risk in Older Adults

THURSDAY, March 26, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Preparing a home-cooked meal at least once a week is tied to a lower risk for dementia in older adults, according to a study published online March 24 in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.Yukako Tani, Ph.D., from the Institute of Science Tokyo, and colleagues examined the association between home cooking and dementia incidence. The analysis included 10,978 participants in the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study followed for six years. A baseline survey was used to assess cooking frequency and skills.The researchers found that among 1,347 male and 321 female pairs matched for cooking frequencies, the risk for dementia was lower for high cooking frequency (at least once per week) versus low (less than once weekly). The subdistribution hazard ratio for high cooking frequency versus low was 0.77 in men and 0.73 in women. The benefits of higher cooking frequency were greater among those with low cooking skills (subdistribution hazard ratio, 0.33)."Creating an environment where people can cook meals when they are older may be important for the prevention of dementia," the authors write.Abstract/Full Text.Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

Cooking Weekly at Home Tied to Lower Dementia Risk in Older Adults

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