Sonia Kruger overhauls fitness routine to lower dementia risk
Sonia Kruger, 61, has rebuilt her life with dance and a Mediterranean diet after close family members got dementia.
Television host Sonia Kruger has focused on dementia prevention after close family members were diagnosed with the condition. Sonia Kruger uses a Mediterranean diet, strength training twice a week, and dancing, which research shows may help prevent dementia.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 43 per cent of dementia risk can be tied to six things you can change: being overweight, lack of exercise, high blood sugar, high blood pressure in midlife, smoking, and poor kidney function.
Kruger cited a 2003 study in the New England Journal of Medicine showing frequent dancing significantly lowered dementia risk compared to other activities. The reason, experts say, is that dancing engages multiple neural pathways at once: choreography, balance, learning, and movement, more effectively than repetitive exercise alone.
She has adapted her fitness program to include five to ten minute daily dance routines.
- 43 per cent of dementia burden
- Modifiable risk factors
- 61 years old
- Kruger's age
- twice a week
- Strength training frequency
Why it mattersDementia can be prevented in many cases. Evidence-backed lifestyle choices made now can cut risk in later life.
AustraliaFor Australians in midlife and beyond, evidence-based prevention strategies, especially dancing, are becoming clearer as dementia rates rise.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 6 h ago
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