Being a grandparent would be good for mental and physical health according to a study

2023-09-03 02:22:39

Becoming a grandparent would be good for mental and physical health while reducing the risk of suffering from depression according to a study by Johanes Gutenberg University.

The study carried out on more than 14,000 people, one-third of whom are grandparents, reveals that caring for a child later in life might improve physical and mental health, but this would depend on the degree of care.

For example, the well-being of women who took care of their small child every day was lower than that of the other study participants, possibly because this would represent too great a burden according to the researchers.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Professor Reyn van Ewijk says that “having grandchildren can give people a new meaning in their lives, a new role and more social interactions”.

“All types of activities that grandparents do are probably good for you, from reading a book to taking a stroll with a stroller,” he adds.

Grandmothers in the study who spoke face-to-face or on the phone with their grandchildren several times a week took a memory test.

On average, these women scored higher following becoming grandmothers and were regarding 3% less likely to develop signs of depression.

However, these results were not observed in men.

Nevertheless, both men and women were 2% less likely to stop being able to perform at least one task following becoming a grandparent.

Participating grandparents who had little contact with their grandchildren saw their well-being deteriorate faster than those who did not.

The study was published in the journal of Social Science and Medecine.

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