Here’s why we should do household chores... they can help stave off dementia
DOING household chores gives you a larger brain and makes you less likely to get dementia, scientists have revealed.
While cleaning and tidying may feel like a burden to some, it may be beneficial to boost memory and learning power as you age.
Just 30 minutes of cleaning daily is enough to reduce the risk of death among people aged 69 and over by 20 per cent, a study suggested.
Older women spend a daily average of two hours more doing household chores than men.
The study found regardless of how much other exercise older adults did, chores boosted brain volume and cognition.
Participants were asked about the time they spent on tidying, dusting, meal preparation and clean up, shopping, heavy housework, gardening, general home repairs and caregiving.
Brain imaging found those who spent more time engaging in such activities had a greater brain volume in the hippocampus, which plays a major role in memory and learning, and the frontal lobe, which is involved in cognition.
Household chores are also likely to boost heart health, as older adults who spent time doing chores were less likely to be sedentary.
Noah Kablinsky, exercise physiologist at Baycrest – a research and testing hospital specialising in geriatric care in Toronto – said: “Scientists already know that exercise has a positive impact on the brain, but our study is the first to show the same may be true for household chores.
“Understanding how different forms of physical activity contribute to brain health is crucial for developing strategies to reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia in older adults.”
Senior scientist Dr Nicole Anderson added:”besides helping to guide physical activity recommendations for older adults, these findings may also motivate them to be more active, since household chores are a natural and often necessary aspect of many people’s daily lives, and therefore appear more attainable.”
The study was published in the journal BMC Geriatrics.