Linger on this page: it’s good for your brain, relationships
LONDON: It’s official: reading is good for you, according to a new report from The Reading Agency, which looked at the effects of reading for pleasure on adults and children.
Benefits include increased empathy, better relationships with others, reduced symptoms of depression and even risks of dementia.
The Reading Agency, a charity whose mission is to inspire people to read more, commissioned the large-scale study to help it evaluate the impact of the work it carries out.
Researchers analysed 51 papers and reports, all published within the past 10 years, most of which aimed to assess the impact of reading on literacy and academic success.
But this study looked for the non-academic side effects of reading for pleasure, which included better communication between parents and children, increased self-esteem, reduced anxiety and stress, and a greater understanding of other cultures.
Some of the information about dementia, for instance, came from two population-level studies in the US, which showed that “being engaged in more reading, along with other hobbies, is associated with a lower risk of incidents of dementia.
“This was especially the case for reading fiction above newspapers and magazines.”
Some of the report’s conclusions about the cultural benefits of reading were drawn from a 2007 study, which showed that “the most consistent outcomes reported were the ability to learn about the self and others, learning about diverse populations and other cultures and periods of history.
“More frequent readers also have an enhanced ability to understand other classes, ethnicity, culture and differing political perspectives.”
Susan Elkin, a journalist, former teacher and the author of Please Miss, We're Boys, taught English in secondary schools to girls and boys and gives three three top tips: take your children to the library and get them involved in reading activities. Make sure that they see you reading and read to them as well as with them – make it a fun part of every day and something you do together.
The writer Samuel Johnson apparently didn’t say this, but someone did and it remains true today: “The true aim of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”