Older persons with normal weight and a wider waist are at a higher risk of developing dementia.
The study, by Dr. Geum Joon Cho and colleagues at Korea University in Seoul, South Korea involved more than 870,000 people, age 65 and older, who were part of a national health screening examination in 2009.
Among the total 872,082 participants, 397,517 were men and 474,565 were women.
By the time half of them had been followed for at least 6.5 years, 13% had been newly diagnosed with dementia.
The study suggests a link between extra fat around the waist and dementia among older adults with a normal body mass index, but doesn’t prove that a wider waist causes dementia.
Among older adults with a normal body mass index (BMI), rates of dementia rose consistently along with waist sizes of at least 90 cm (about 35.5 inches) for men and 85 cm (about 33.5 inches) for women, researchers report in Obesity.
Normal-weight participants with so-called abdominal obesity had a significantly increased risk.
People who were overweight or obese had a lower risk of dementia than normal-weight individuals, but those who were underweight actually had the highest risk.
See also:
Belly fat may be worse than obesity (2015-11-11)
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Men with Belly Fat at Risk for Osteoporosis (17/12/2012)
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Health-related quality of life, belly fat and testosterone levels (2014-01-22)
Link…
For more information
Obesity
Association Between Waist Circumference and Dementia in Older Persons: A Nationwide Population‐Based Study
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MDN
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