Qualifying question:

Do you have a big belly?

Answer:

Yes!!!

Answer: Lose the big belly – and cut your dementia risk by three-fold – maybe!

Explanation:

People who scored in the top 25% for central obesity ( a polite term for big belly!) when in their early 40s were nearly three times more likely to have a diagnosis of dementia when their medical records were followed up 36 years later than were people who scored in the bottom 25% for central obesity.

Even after controlling for other factors such as age, education and race, diabetes, cardiovascular risk factors and overall obesity, central obesity still significantly predicted dementia.

Now this is just a correcleational study – it doesn’t prove that being fat n the belly in your 40s will make you demented in your 80s, but it’s certainly something to think about!

Are you centrally obese? Lots of otherwise normal-weighted people are obese around the belly. Click here to find out if you are centrally obese.