Research
Hormonal
Mid-life obesity is associated with an increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease later in life, whereas late-life obesity may show a paradoxical protective effect or no increased risk.
Maintaining a healthy weight in mid-life is crucial for reducing your risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease later in life. While the relationship between weight and dementia in old age is complex, keeping your weight in a healthy range during your 40s and 50s is a proven way to protect your brain health.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
With regard to obesity, its presence at midlife is associated with an increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s later in life (133), and in particular central obesity in midlife increases the risk of dementia independent of diabetes and CV comorbidities (134).
Why this rating
Cites systematic reviews and meta-analyses supporting the mid-life risk association.
Source
Aging, Obesity, and Inflammatory Age-Related Diseases
Daniela Frasca et al. · Frontiers in Immunology · 2017
DOI 10.3389/fimmu.2017.01745
narrative_reviewCited 364×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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