Healthy diet, playing games and social visits may help stave off dementia

A healthy diet, combined with visits to friends and family and activities such as reading or playing cards, may help cut the risk of dementia, research suggests.

Experts said combining healthy habits boosts the chances of staving off conditions like Alzheimers disease.

They created a chart of six beneficial behaviours, with a healthy diet deemed as eating at least seven out of 12 food groups (fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, dairy, salt, oil, eggs, cereals, legumes, nuts and tea).

Taking part in writing, reading, playing cards or other games at least twice a week is another area of healthy behaviour.

Other areas are drinking no alcohol, exercising for more than 150 minutes a week at moderate intensity or more than 75 at vigorous intensity, and never having smoked or being an ex-smoker.

Social contact at least twice a week was the sixth healthy behaviour, such as visiting loved ones, attending meetings or going to parties.

Researchers analysed data from 29,000 adults aged at least 60 (average age 72) with normal cognitive function who were part of the China Cognition and Aging Study.