The Times: Children who do puzzles ‘reduce risk of dementia in later life’

Reading fairy tales and solving puzzles with your children could reduce their risk of developing dementia in later life, it has been claimed.

The suggestion came after research found that eight-year-olds with strong problem-solving skills retained them in old age.

Scientists studied 502 Britons born in the same week in March 1946 who took thinking and memory tests at eight and again between the ages of 69 and 71. They found that “childhood cognitive ability was strongly associated with cognitive scores . . . more than 60 years later”.

About 850,000 people in the UK have dementia. Previous studies have suggested that keeping the brain active and stimulated may lessen dementia risk or help to stave off its effects for longer, but after the latest research experts have suggested that this stimulation should begin in childhood.

John Gallacher, a professor of cognitive health at the University of Oxford and director of Dementias Platform UK, a body funded by the Medical Research Council, said parents who help build up their child’s thinking and problem-solving skills could make them more resilient to the disease.

The full online article can be found here.