It’s child’s play... why becoming a grandparent is good for the brain

BECOMING a grandparent may be a reminder you’re not as young as you used to be, but take heart – it could boost your brainpower and reduce the odds of you suffering from depression in later life.

Meanwhile, grandchildren could also keep men and women more active, while babysitting them appears important for wellbeing.

An analysis of 14,810 people aged 50 to 80, a third of whom became grandparents, suggests that running around after a child in later life could have positive effects on physical and mental health – but it depends how much work you take on.

Women who looked after their grandchildren every day were found to have worse wellbeing than others, possibly because it became too much of a burden. Professor Reyn van Ewijk, who led the study from Johanes Gutenberg University in Germany, said: ‘Having grandchildren can give people new meaning to their life, a new role, and increased social interaction.

‘That could explain our findings as all kinds of grandparenting tasks, from reading a book to a child to pushing a pram around, are probably good for you.’

In the study, grandmothers close to their children – speaking to them in person or on the phone several times a week – did a memory test before and after having grandchildren, and filled out a questionnaire to indicate if they were having symptoms of depression.

On average, after becoming a grandparent, women did significantly better in tests where they had to recall a list of ten words, and were about three per cent less likely to show signs of depression. But there was no significant change in men who became grandfathers.

People close to their children were also asked how easy they found everyday activities crucial for living independently such as cooking, cleaning and getting dressed.

After becoming a grandparent, both men and women were one to two per cent less likely to report being unable to do at least one of these tasks.

The physical demands of being a grandparent may help with being more active and warding off frailty and mobility problems.

However, grandparents who never babysat their grandchildren saw a drop in their wellbeing worse than non-grandparents – suggesting they feel they are missing out on the youngsters’ childhoods.

And the 12 per cent of grandmothers who looked after their grandchildren without their parents every single day experience an average decline in wellbeing compared to before they were a grandparent.

The study, published in the journal Social Science & Medicine, found being a grandparent reduces wellbeing for those who don’t have close contact with their children.