Becoming a grandparent is good for the brain, reveals an analysis

• Experts from the Johannes Gutenberg University conducted an analysis of 14,810 people
• Results show that having grandchildren can improve physical and mental health

Becoming a grandparent can be a reminder that you’re not as young as you used to be, but don’t be discouraged—it could boost your brainpower and reduce your chances of suffering from depression in adulthood.

Meanwhile, grandchildren could also keep men and women more active, while caring for them seems important for well-being.

An analysis of 14,810 people between the ages of 50 and 80, a third of whom became grandparents, suggests that running after a child as an adult could have positive effects on physical and mental health, but it depends on how much work is put into it. perform.

Women who cared for 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 study from Johannes Gutenberg University, Germany, said: “Having grandchildren can give people a new meaning to their lives, a new role and greater social interaction.

“That could explain our findings, since all kinds of parenting 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 (by speaking to them 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.

On average, after becoming grandmothers, the women did significantly better on tests in which they had to remember a list of 10 words, and were about three percent less likely to show signs of depression.

But there were no significant changes in the men who became grandfathers.

People close to their children were also asked how easy they found daily activities crucial to independent living, such as cooking, cleaning and dressing.

After becoming grandparents, 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 being a grandparent can help you be more active and avoid frailty and mobility problems.

However, grandparents who never cared for their grandchildren saw a worse drop in well-being than non-grandparents, suggesting that they feel they are missing out on the childhood of the young.

And the 12 percent of grandmothers who cared for their grandchildren without their parents every day experience an average decline in their well-being compared to before they became grandmothers.

The study, published in the journal Social Science & Medicine, found that being a grandparent reduces the well-being of those who do not have close contact with their children.