Research Finds That Grandmothers Who Babysit Are Less Likely to Develop Dementia
Who doesn’t love spending time with grandma? Shopping trips, homemade cookies, and hours of snuggling are just a few things that come to mind when I remember my own grandmother.
Sadly, many children grow up with one extreme or the other. Some are so young when their grandparents pass, they don’t remember them aside from photos and stories that have been passed down.
Still, others are raised by their grandparents. For one reason or another, their parents don’t play an active role in their lives, so it’s up to grandma or grandpa to step up to the parenting plate.
A 2014 study conducted in Australia by the Women’s Healthy Aging Project brought about some very interesting results in regard to post-menopausal women.
It turns out, a particular group of women within this demographic scored higher on the three cognitive tests given by the study, but one very important factor made all the difference.
Spending time with their grandchildren. And not just spending time with them, but actually acting as their main caregiver one day a week.
The key is believed to be interaction. Unfortunately, many seniors live out their later years alone, without their children or grandchildren around.
However, those grandmothers who avoid isolation, the ones who babysit their grandkids, are less likely to end up with mental health conditions ranging from depression to Alzheimer’s and dementia. And why not?
We all need a good dose of healthy interaction with our family and friends. Premature babies do better when offered physical touch regularly, so why would an elderly person be any different?
However, the same research also showed that balance played a factor. Everything in moderation, right?
Those grandmothers who spent too much time caring for their grandchildren, five days each week or longer, scored lower.
The women in this lower-scoring group are considered to be more likely to develop neurodegenerative problems and diseases.
In the end, it’s all about balance. Close relationships between a grandma and grandchild are healthy, but, depending on the grandma, too much could do more harm than good.
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