A well-nourished, and hence well-developed brain probably confers ‘cognitive reserve’,
spare capacity that reduces the impact of neurodegeneration on everyday activities,
hence delaying or preventing the onset of dementia.
Foetal undernutrition is also relevant because small-for-dates babies tend togrow into adults with obesity, type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease.Meta-analysis (summarising findings across several long-term cohort studies) shows that obesity in mid-life predicts onset of dementia in late life.