A ground-breaking study led by Australian researchers has discovered the first significant connections between childhood obesity and midlife cognitive abilities, with the authors speculating that this relationship may be linked to dementia risk. The study followed participants for 30 years and discovered that a more significant physical performance as a child was linked to better cognition in middle age, pointing to lifestyle measures that could help prevent dementia.
Over 1,200 people participated in the study, led by a team from Melbourne’s Monash University. Researchers measured the individuals’ fitness levels in 1985, when they were between the ages of seven and fifteen, using muscular power and endurance, cardiorespiratory performance, and the waist-to-hip ratio.
Between 2017 and 2019, when the participants were 39 to 50 years old, another round of assessments was conducted, this time with an emphasis on cognitive ability. This included computerized attention, memory, and global cognition tests, which allowed the researchers to extract some fascinating information.
The team found that those with the best muscular performance, cardiorespiratory fitness, and lowest waist-to-hip ratios as youngsters in 1985 had better cognitive function when they reached middle age. The researchers highlight that this is the first indication of such a relationship and adds to our expanding understanding of early-onset dementia and cognitive impairment later in life.
According to the authors, these findings point to early-life lifestyle interventions that can guard against cognitive decline and illness risk later in life, in addition to the many other health benefits of active lifestyles.
Associate Professor Callisaya, a study author, explained:
“Developing strategies that improve low fitness and decrease obesity levels in childhood are important because they could contribute to improvements in cognitive performance in midlife. But, importantly, the study also indicates that protective strategies against future cognitive decline may need to start as far back as early childhood so that the brain can develop sufficient reserve against developing conditions such as dementia in older life.”
The Australian team published the study in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport on May 24, 2022.
