Mums, do your parents and in-laws love looking after your kids? We all know that grandparents love to spoil their grandchildren and it turns out there are a lot of scientifically proven benefits of being a grandparent!
Let’s not forget all the benefits for kids as well! They benefit from their grandparents’ wisdom, having carefree fun with them and thrive on the companionship that grandparents can provide.
Mums, remember when you were little and you could trust your grandma with all your deepest secrets, even the ones that might get you in trouble with your own mum?
A 2016 study from Boston University found that the benefits of this close relationship between children and grandparents extend to adulthood. The study, which ran from 1985 to 2004, found that strong relationships between young adults and grandparents significantly reduced the symptoms of depression.
So the next time you and hubby are craving some alone time, you should pack the kids off to the grandparents! It’s a win-win for everyone.
Benefits of being a grandparent
Benefits of being a grandparent #1: It boosts your immune system
Get ready to give your grandkids lots of love and snuggles. It turns out that this physical affection decreases stress levels for everyone thanks to increased levels of oxytocin in the brain.
Even just holding hands when you walk through the park together is helping to boost both of your immune system’s dye to an increase in white blood cells.
Benefits of being a grandparent #2: You are more active
This isn’t hard to believe. Little kids are super energetic, so the people who are looking after them need to be as well! When there are grandkids in the picture, grandparents have much more motivation to get up and be active. It could be pushing the stroller around the block or running around playing football with older grandkids.
Besides teaching your little ones that it is important to be active and healthy at any age, seniors who are more active report not just having better physical strength and energy, but also report enhanced sleep and cognitive functions.
Benefits of being a grandparent #3: It decreases the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease
A study by the Women’s Health Aging Project discovered that looking after grandchildren lowers the risk of Alzheimer’s disease in postmenopausal women. Based on their research, grandmothers who looked after their children at least once a week had the greatest cognitive ability of the 187 women surveyed.
Benefits of being a grandparent #4: You will live longer
Wow, this is an amazing benefit of being a grandparent!
Grandparents who look after their grandchildren live significantly longer lives according to data from the Berlin Aging Study looking at over 500 seniors. Grandparents who are non-primary caregivers had a lower risk of death over a 20 year period compared to those who did not look after grandchildren.
However, it’s important not to overdo it. Grandparents should not be overexerting themselves or getting stressed out while looking after their grandchildren, as this can have the opposite effect.
What have you found to be the benefits of being a grandparent? Do your grandkids keep you more active?
Read more: 6 Awesome things to do with your grandparents in Singapore
Sources:
Oxford Academic, National Institute of Health, Evolution & Human Behaviour