FAT people’s brains are ten years older than thin people’s, scientists say.

Researchers found obesity shrinks white matter, the cells that allow sections of the brain to communicate.

4 Obesity has been found to shrink the brain's white matter Credit: Getty Images

Everyone’s brain shrinks with age, but the process speeds up in middle-aged overweight patients to such an extent an obese 50-year-old has the same amount of white matter as a skinny 60-year-old.

The findings of the Cambridge University study, which looked at 473 people aged 20 to 87, suggest obesity harms the brain as much as the heart and other organs.

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4 Fat people's brains are thought to age ten years faster than thin people's from middle age onwards

The team carried out brain scans to measure the volume of white matter before weighing each of the volunteers.

It was not clear why there was a reduction in white matter, but they only saw differences from middle-age onwards.

4 The study was carried out by the University of Cambridge Credit: Getty Images

It suggests the brain is most susceptible to obesity-related damage after people reach their 40s.

Researcher Professor Paul Fletcher said it was crucial to find out if losing weight could reverse the damage.

He said: “We have an ageing population with increasing obesity levels.

4 Researchers now want to discover whether losing weight can reverse the effects obesity has on the brain Credit: Getty Images

“It’s essential we establish how these two factors might interact, since the consequences are potentially very serious.

“The fact that we only saw these differences from middle-age onwards raises the possibility that we may be particularly vulnerable at this age.”