High waist-to-hip ratio in middle age could lead to poor brain health later, research shows

A bigger midriff in our forties is linked to poorer cognitive function in our seventies, international study finds

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A team of European doctors, who measured waists in middle-aged subjects and took data from brain scans and diet records, say keeping a low waist-hip ratio can help safeguard cognitive function later in life. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 3:15pm, 20 Mar 2025

Maintaining a low waist-to-hip ratio in middle age could mean a better chance at staying mentally sharp in later life, researchers have concluded after studying several decades of health data for around 1,200 people.

The team of British, German, French and Dutch doctors found that a healthy diet in middle age, coupled with a low waist-to-hip ratio – a quick measure of fat distribution that may help indicate a person’s overall health – to be “associated with better brain and cognitive health in older age”.

People who carry more weight around their middle than their hips may be at a higher risk of developing certain health conditions – including a reduction in cognitive health.

The team said the data, which included multiple brain scans, diet records and waist-hip measurements, suggest healthy eating and keeping that tight waist-hip ratio leads to “enhanced hippocampal functional connectivity” – the ability of the hippocampus to connect with other regions of the brain for processes underlying learning and memory – and “white matter integrity”.

A healthy diet in middle age, coupled with a low waist-to-hip ratio, was associated with better brain and cognitive health in older age, researchers found. Photo: Shutterstock

The doctors found 40-somethings who were larger in the midriff area were more likely to display “poorer working memory and executive function” as they hit their seventies. Photo: Shutterstock

In contrast, forty-somethings who were larger in the midriff area were more likely to display “poorer working memory and executive function” as they hit their seventies.