Kids who do chores are richer, slimmer and happier – as William and Kate say: their three children ‘mess around’ at home
They may be the most privileged children in the country. But the royal children, Princes George, 11, Louis, six, and Princess Charlotte, nine, are still expected to do their best at home.
Last week, a royal insider revealed that the Prince and Princess of Wales expect the children to help with chores around the house, such as setting the table, clearing plates after meals and helping with tidying up.
Research shows that mounting evidence suggests that helping out with housework not only helps children learn to cook and clean, it also makes them smarter, more social and healthier.
Below, we reveal exactly which household chores offer the biggest benefits for kids — and the intriguing science that shows why chores can improve their health.
The Prince and Princess of Wales prefer to raise their children without employing staff at Windsor
The Princess of Wales is determined to ensure everything runs normally for her children
Scientists have identified specific chores that provide the greatest health benefits.
And at the top of the list is gardening.
Weeding, repotting and mowing the lawn have been linked to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels later in life, which can reduce the risk of heart attack and type 2 diabetes.
This is evident from an American school garden program that saw its benefits in children from the age of seven.
“School-based horticulture programs improve dietary intake, academic performance, and reduce metabolic disease, even in the most at-risk minority groups of children,” the researchers wrote in the study, published in JAMA Network Opened until 2023.
Weeding the garden and cutting vegetables can keep your kids healthy. Not only do little helpers give you one less thing to do, they can also teach them about nutrition, lower their blood sugar and cholesterol
The program, called Texas Sprouts, involved schoolchildren ages seven through 12 taking 18 one-hour gardening lessons throughout the year, where they learned how to grow plants and turn their harvests into healthy meals.
Parents were also invited to attend classes to refresh their nutritional knowledge. As a result, the children ate more vegetables and fiber, which improved their blood sugar levels.
Researchers at the University of Texas measured the students’ height, weight and body mass index (BMI), as well as their insulin and glucose levels and blood fat levels, all indicators of risk for type 2 diabetes.
They found that participating in the gardening classes led to a 13 percent improvement in blood sugar stability (making kids less likely to eat unhealthy foods).
It also resulted in a reduction in cholesterol – fatty deposits that build up in the arteries, damaging them and increasing the risk of heart attack or stroke.
Research has shown that all chores can have a positive effect on brain capacity.
A 2019 study University of Virginia experts surveyed nearly 10,000 elementary school children and asked students about their math, science and reading skills and compared them to the number of chores they did at home.
The results showed that the more chores a child did, the better they performed in school.
Children who rarely did housework were 25 percent less likely to report doing well in school and 27 percent more likely to be in the worst group in terms of self-reported life satisfaction.
They were 24 percent more likely to be in the bottom group when it came to relationships with other children.
The researchers also found that teens who performed household chores tended to perform better on math, reading and science tests, compared to teens who never or rarely performed household chores.
Research shows that the more chores a child does, the greater their self-confidence and the better their performance in school, especially in math and science.
Researchers at the University of Virginia also found that the confidence that gives them an academic boost also helps them become happier and more social
Researchers have also found evidence suggesting that better academic performance can lead to higher incomes.
An 85-year multigenerational study by Harvard researchers found a strong link between doing chores in childhood and professional success later in life.
Research into the backgrounds of over 700 successful people found that a strong work ethic is one of the factors that makes adults happy and successful.
Researchers at the University of Virginia also found that children who rarely help out with housework are up to 30 percent more likely to be dissatisfied with their lives.
Letting your kids help with cooking dinner can also improve their problem-solving skills and working memory.
Research of 2022 A study published in the Australian Occupational Therapy Journal found that children who were required to help with mealtimes were more likely to perform better at school and were better at problem solving.
The study looked at parents of 207 children between the ages of five and 13. They were asked about the number of chores their children did each day, such as cooking and cleaning up, and their child’s memory and ability to concentrate on different tasks.
Children who helped with “self-care” tasks, such as helping prepare the family meal, were more likely to have better working memory and greater inhibition.
Deanna Tepper, the researcher who led the study, said: ‘Children who regularly cook a family meal or weed the garden may excel better in other aspects of life, such as schoolwork or problem solving.’
She explained that delays in a child’s executive function development can lead to difficulties with planning and problem solving as an adult.