Obesity may increase your risk of dementia. An analysis of published obesity and dementia follow-up studies over the past two decades shows a consistent relationship between the two diseases.

Preventing obesity in children could therefore play a major role in reducing the number of dementia patients, and those with other commonly associated illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease, by up to 20 percent in the United States.

The findings come from a systematic review of 10 previously published studies that examined the relationships between dementia or its subtypes and various measures of body fat. Based on a pooled analysis, baseline obesity increased the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 80 percent on average. Being underweight also increases the risk of dementia and its subtypes.