PEOPLE who are obese could be putting themselves at risk of dementia in later life, new research suggests.

Patients under 70 who are admitted to hospital for obesity carry a higher risk of developing the condition than those not recorded to be obese, experts from University of Oxford found.

They found the risk was highest among those with a record of obesity when they are in their 30s. Estimates suggest there are currently 800,000 people with dementia in the UK, a figure expected to hit over one million by 2021.