Overweight children who don’t get enough exercise could increase their risk of dementia later in life.
A study from the University of Oxford looked at 862 children whose weight was measured from age seven and whose weekly physical activity levels were tracked from age 11.
Their brains were scanned around age 20 and analyzed for dementia-related changes.
People with a higher BMI at age seven and who gained weight more rapidly until age 17 had differences in the structure of their “default mode network,” which is linked to dementia in old age.
Less active children with higher BMI tended to have differences in their entorhinal cortex, which evidence also shows plays a role in dementia.
The results suggest that children’s brains may develop differently if they don’t get enough exercise and are overweight. This could set the stage for them to be at higher risk of dementia when they are older, although more research is needed to find out if this is the case.
Overweight children who don’t get enough exercise may increase their risk of dementia later in life (file photo)
Research suggests that children’s brains may develop differently if they don’t exercise, potentially setting the stage for them to be at higher risk of dementia when they grow up.
Holly Haines, lead author of the study published in the journal eBioMedicine, said: “Dementia is considered a disease that affects older people, and people think that the “critical window” to avoid it by living healthily is in middle age. .
“But our findings suggest that being healthy during childhood and adolescence is also important.
“There is a growing awareness that our lifestyle throughout our lives, from a young age, affects what happens to us in the future, and that it is never too early to think about being healthier.”
Those studied participated in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a long-term health study of families in and around Bristol that began in 1991.