It’s child’s play: Analysis reveals why becoming a grandparent is good for the brain and can keep men and women more active
- Experts from Johanes Gutenberg University conducted an analysis of 14,810 people
- The results show that having grandchildren can improve mental and physical health
Becoming a grandparent may be a reminder that you’re not as young as you used to be, but rest assured, it can boost your brainpower and reduce your chances of suffering from depression later in life.
Meanwhile, grandchildren could also keep men and women more active, while babysitting them appears to be important for well-being.
An analysis of 14,810 people aged 50 to 80, one third of whom became grandparents, found that chasing after a child later in life can have positive effects on physical and mental health – but it depends on how much work you do .
Women who took care of their grandchildren every day were found to have worse well-being than others, possibly because it became too much of a burden.
Professor Reyn van Ewijk, who led the research at Johanes Gutenberg University in Germany, said: ‘Having grandchildren can give people a new meaning to their lives, a new role and more social interaction.
An analysis of 14,810 people between the ages of 50 and 80, one third of whom became a grandparent, suggests that running after a child later in life could have positive effects on personal health
“That could explain our findings, because all kinds of grandparenting tasks, from reading a book to a child to pushing a stroller, are probably good for you.”
In the study, grandmothers who were close to their children — who they talked to in person or on the phone several times a week — took a memory test before and after having grandchildren, and completed a questionnaire to indicate whether they had symptoms of depression. had.
After becoming a grandparent, women on average performed significantly better on tests that required them to remember a list of ten words, and were about three percent less likely to show signs of depression.
But there was no significant change in men who became grandfathers.
People close to their children were also asked how easily they find daily activities that are crucial for independent living, such as cooking, cleaning and dressing.
After becoming a grandparent, both men and women were one to two percent less likely to report being unable to perform at least one of these tasks.
The physical demands of grandparenthood can help you be more active and avoid frailty and mobility issues.
However, grandparents who never babysat their grandchildren saw a worse decline in their well-being than non-grandparents — suggesting that they feel they are missing out on the youngsters’ childhood.
And the 12 percent of grandmothers who care for their grandchildren every day without their parents experience an average decline in well-being compared to before they were grandparents.
The research, published in the journal Social Science & Medicine, shows that grandparenting reduces the well-being of those who do not have close contact with their children.