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 could 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 after becoming grandmothers and were about 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 after 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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