Happy New Year! This is an excellent time to decide to take better care of your brain. Last spring, I surveyed almost 1000 people ages 50-75 living in various regions of the United States to learn what they know about brain health (defined as memory and thinking skills) and how concerned they are about this topic. About half of the respondents are “Boomers” (50 to 67 years old), and the other half are between ages 68 and 75. Approximately two-thirds are retired, and a similar percentage are female. Three-fourths of the respondents are married, and more than 95% are White.
When asked how concerned they were about maintaining brain health, 65% of the respondents said they were either “very” or “extremely” concerned. There was no significant difference in concern between the Boomer and older groups. In addition, there was no significant difference in amount of concern between those who have been a caregiver to someone with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia and those who have not. However, those who currently have a family member or close friend with either of these conditions were significantly more concerned about their brain health.
Respondents are aware of the importance of various lifestyle practices to brain health. Practices rated as “Very important” were:
- Physical activity/exercise, eating a healthy diet – 90%
- Socialization – 84%
- Avoiding tobacco – 81%
- Mentally stimulating activities – 80%
Though the majority of respondents rated exercise and physical activity, mental stimulation, and socialization as important to brain health, the amount of time they reported for engaging in these practices varies greatly. About a fifth (20.4%) engage in exercise (walk, run, bike, golf, swim, etc.) at least seven or more hours per week, while more than a third (37.5%) exercise two hours or less per week.
In spite of the abundance of “brain fitness” programs in the today’s marketplace, only 11.2% of the respondents indicated they had used any “brain training” programs or games in the past year. Of these, about half reported using Lumosity and a fourth reported using BrainAge. When asked about other mentally stimulating activities, 47% said they engage in games, puzzles, reading/writing, and/or playing a musical instrument seven or more hours per week, but 54.3% report attending classes, studying, and learning new things as two or less hours per week.
Questions about socialization revealed that, while more than half of the respondents (55%) spend less than two hours per week participating in clubs and meetings, more than half (61.8%) spend five or more hours a week socializing with family or friends.
Regarding nutrition, though 90% indicated their belief that eating a healthy diet is very important to brain health, only 15-18% report consuming at least three or more servings of fruits and also of vegetables per day, on average, which is less than the government’s recommended intake of these foods (www.choosemyplate.gov). On a brighter note, 73.8% report eating one to three servings of fish per week, which is close to the two to three servings recommended by publicly available dietary guidelines.
Responses to the other survey questions will be presented in a later blog post.