The link between being overweight and problems such as Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and coronary heart disease is fairly uncontested, even if the data needed to prove it is still being compiled.
Now we have evidence that the obese might be beset by more than physical problems in the future. A study published in the medical journal Neurology has found a link between being overweight and a drop in people’s cognitive abilities and memory.
Researchers tracked the health of more than 6,000 British people, aged 35 and 55, over a decade. They took tests on memory and other cognitive skills three times over that 10-year period.
What they found was that people who were both obese and who had unhealthy metabolic changes showed a much faster decline on their cognitive test scores compared to others in the study.
In their findings they stressed that they looked only at cognitive function – neurologically speaking that means any mental process like perception, memory, creation of imagery, thinking, awareness and judgment.
The British Dietetic Association (BDA) has welcomed the results of the, suggesting that it helps further build the case for tackling obesity in the UK by preventing and treating it.
BDA spokesman Dale Rees said: “We need to move away from stigmatising and judging individuals for being obese and offer them the correct help, as we would for someone with cancer or heart disease.
“Obesity is linked too many health problems and the longer it’s left untreated the more damage it can cause. It causes our bodies to suffer from increased stress that can cause long-term permanent damage.
“These can be from metabolic changes such as increased blood pressure and excess cholesterol or through the greater work-load on our organs such as the heart and lungs, or the repeated strain on muscles and joints.
“The problem with tackling obesity is that the causes are multi-factorial, people become obese for so many different reasons and from many diverse influences. Without addressing all of them it will be hard to fight the trend of more people suffering this illness.
“This is an interesting insight into another relationship of obesity and a chronic disease, but we don’t yet know enough about how this mechanism works and develops.
“What we do know is that people who are obese are more likely to be sedentary, eat unhealthy, and follow damaging lifestyles, these all are all also linked to the development of mental decline.”
David Foad, editor of Cost Sector Catering
E: davidf@dewberryredpoint.co.uk
T: 020 8269 7914