Having an unhealthy childhood appears to lead to changes to parts of the brain which have been linked with dementia.

Teenagers should be considering their dementia risk, academics have said after a new study suggests that having an unhealthy childhood could affect the brain in later life.

A child’s body mass index (BMI), blood pressure and physical activity levels have been linked to differences in the brain by the age of 20 – particularly the areas linked to dementia.

While it is known that a person’s health in mid-life can be a potential predictor for dementia in their later years, researchers have not previously tracked whether there could be an impact from childhood onwards.

Experts said the new study, published in the journal eBioMedicine, suggests that being unhealthy in childhood and adolescence could set the stage for later decline in brain health.

Researchers, led by a team at the University of Oxford’s Department of Psychiatry and in collaboration with University College London, examined data from 860 people who are taking part in the long-term Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.

The study is tracking people’s data over a long period of time by examining various measured linked to their health.

The academics looked at blood pressure and BMI when children were aged seven to 17, their physical activity levels when they were aged 11 to 15 and brain scans from young adulthood when........

© Shropshire Star