Not just a physical health risk (Image: Paul Viant/Getty)

BRAIN regions key to cognition are smaller in older people who are obese compared with their leaner peers, making their brains look up to 16 years older than their true age. As brain shrinkage is linked to dementia, this adds weight to the suspicion that piling on the pounds may up a person’s risk of the brain condition.

The brains of elderly obese people looked 16 years older than the brains of those who were lean

Previous studies suggested that obesity in middle age increases the risk of dementia decades later …