Obesity in midlife linked to higher dementia risk: Researchers

London: Overweight people, please take note. Researchers have found that obesity in midlife is linked to a greater risk of dementia later in life; however, poor diet and lack of exercise are not.

“Some previous studies have suggested a poor diet or a lack of exercise may increase a person’s risk of dementia, however, our study found these factors are not linked to the long-term risk of dementia,” said study author Sarah Floud from the University of Oxford in the UK.

“Short-term associations between these factors and dementia risk are likely to reflect changes in behaviour, such as eating poorly and being inactive, due to early symptoms of dementia,” Floud said.

The study, published in the journal Neurology, involved one of every four women born in the United Kingdom between 1935 to 1950, or nearly 1,137,000 women.

They had an average age of 56 and did not have dementia at the start of the study. Participants were asked about their height, weight, diet, and exercise at the start of the study. (IANS)

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