VID Colloquium
A Reversal of the Positive BMI-education Link and the Implication for Seniors’ Cognitive Abilities
Valeria Bordone, Daniela Weber & Vegard Skirbekk,
IIASA & Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital
Date: Tue, December 20 2011, Time: 10:00 - 11:00
Population aging is associated with age-related cognitive decline and coincides with generally rising body mass index (BMI) levels (which several earlier studies have found to depress cognition) at least up to the age of 60. Nowadays societies also tend to have increasing education levels (which have been shown to boost cognition). We investigate how education levels and BMI relate to cognition among nationally representative samples of individuals aged 50 +. We study cohorts born between 1925 and 1964 across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the US and identify a a positive BMI-cognition correlation for older cohorts (particularly in poorer countries) and a more negative relation for younger cohorts. We find that these changes may be linked to the shift in the association between BMI and education, where higher education is in fact more likely to be associated with relatively low BMI for younger cohorts and for more developed countries, especially for men.
About the presenter
Valeria Bordone joined the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital in Vienna in March 2011. Her current research focuses on cognitive skills by age, sex and cohort in a cross-country comparative perspective. Since 2010, she is an associate of the Dondena Centre for Research on Social Dynamics at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy. Dr. Bordone completed her PhD at the University of Mannheim, Germany, with a dissertation on intergenerational relationships in ageing societies. After graduating in economics at Bocconi University, she was awarded an MSc at the London School of Economics, and completed the European Doctoral School of Demography programme, held by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock, Germany.
Daniela Weber joined IIASA as a Research Assistant in summer 2010. She is working with the Age and Cohort Change (ACC) project. Ms. Weber studied Applied Mathematics at the Vienna University of Technology and is currently enrolled in the PhD program at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. Before joining IIASA, she worked as a research assistant at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. Her research interests include developing and applying statistical models in demographic analysis.
Vegard Skirbekk is the Leader of the Age and Cohort Change (ACC) Project at IIASA. He was awarded a "Starting Grant" from the European Research Council to set up his independent research project over a five year period in 2009 and in 2010 received a large additional research grant from PEW. Dr. Skirbekk investigates trends in the age and gender distribution of human capital, skills and work performance focusing on life cycle and cohort changes. He has published in leading academic journals, including Science, Demography, and Population and Development Review. He graduated in economics from the University of Oslo, Norway, and also studied at Adelaide University, Australia. He was awarded his PhD at the University of Rostock, Germany.