You may know that about 70 percent of obese adolescents become obese adults. And that the hormone testosterone (in girls and in boys) increases belly fat. But did you know that middle age obesity is a dementia risk? And that women get the worst of it?
Researchers find that it’s so for people with a body mass index (BMI) over 25 kg/m2 (calculate your BMI free), especially women.
Why? It’s not Alzheimer’s. It’s your arteries. Vascular dementia occurs more rapidly among heavier adults who look more like apples than pears, and are at risk for the metabolic syndrome. Other predictors: waist greater than 35 inches for women, and 40 inches for men.
And the trouble starts earlier: “obese girls who become obese adults are half as likely to be gainfully employed and to have a partner than women who are not obese; in men, obesity is not associated with any adverse social outcomes.”