Nearly half of all dementia cases could be prevented by addressing modifiable risk factors such as physical inactivity, smoking, low education, poor sleep and social isolation, according to new research from Curtin University. But the study warns that current public health strategies are not doing enough to turn awareness into real behavior change.
A Global Review of Prevention Campaigns
The research, published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity, reviewed public health campaigns and programs across eight countries. It found that while large-scale awareness campaigns can reach wide audiences, they typically produce only small gains in knowledge and limited shifts in behavior.
Researchers concluded that more engaging, personalized and community-driven approaches are needed to meaningfully reduce dementia risk. Interactive strategies, the review found, consistently outperformed passive information campaigns at motivating people to change their habits.
Effective approaches identified in the review included online education programs that walk people through practical steps to improve brain health, personalized risk assessments that show individuals how their own lifestyle affects their dementia risk, community-based programs delivered by trusted local figures, including peer educators, health workers and community leaders.
Programs that combined culturally tailored content, familiar settings and realistic goal-setting were among the most successful at driving lasting change.
Study author Mario Siervo said the findings show a clear gap between what people know and what they do.
“Up to 45 percent of dementia cases are linked to modifiable factors we can change, such as our lifestyle, health status and environment,” Siervo said in a statement. “But simply telling people what those risks are isn’t enough; awareness campaigns are important, but on their own they rarely lead to meaningful or lasting behavior change.”
Muscle Strength Emerges as a Key Factor
A separate but related strand of the Curtin-led research points to muscle strength and body composition as significant, and previously underappreciated, factors in dementia risk.
That study followed nearly 500,000 adults over more than a decade. It found that people with both low muscle strength and excess body fat, a combination known as sarcopenic obesity, faced a higher risk of developing dementia.
Notably, obesity alone was not linked to increased dementia risk when muscle strength was preserved. The finding underscores the importance of maintaining muscle health alongside a healthy body composition, rather than focusing on weight loss in isolation.
Dr. Laura Bojarskaite, a neuroscientist at the University of Oslo, weighed in on both sets of findings.
“What’s genuinely new and important in this review is the uncomfortable finding that telling people things barely changes what they do,” she told Newsweek. “For years the field has focused on identifying risk factors, and we now have a solid list: inactivity, smoking, hearing loss, low education, social isolation and others. This review shifts the question from ‘what are the risks?’ to ‘why don’t people act on them?’ Awareness campaigns reliably raise knowledge, but knowledge and behavior are very different things. That’s a harder and more honest problem to tackle.”
Though she added: “Preventable’ is a population estimate, not a personal guarantee. It means that if these risk factors were removed across an entire population, up to this share of cases might be avoided or delayed. It doesn’t mean an individual can guarantee they’ll never develop dementia by ticking boxes, and it shouldn’t become a new source of blame for people who do.”
Why It Matters
Together, the findings suggest that dementia prevention efforts need to move beyond generic public health messaging. Reaching people with information is not enough on its own; researchers say campaigns must actively engage individuals, tailor advice to their circumstances, and involve trusted figures within their own communities.
The results also broaden the picture of what “modifiable risk” means. Alongside well-established factors like smoking, inactivity, low education and isolation, maintaining muscle strength now appears to be an important, actionable target for reducing dementia risk—one that can be addressed through resistance exercise and strength-focused interventions, not just weight management alone.
Newsweek reached out to Curtin University for more information.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Kara Dolman and Emma Lee-Sang.
