There’s nothing like grandchildren to keep older adults active and joyful. A recent study shows that spending a moderate amount of time with grandkids may actually prevent Alzheimer’s disease by increasing brain function and memory.
Beyond adding joy to grandparent’s lives babysitting grandchildren has now been shown to increase cognitive functions and reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s according to a new study published by the journal of the North American Menopause Society (Source). The study which followed 120 grandparents in Australia found grandmothers who babysat one day per week scored higher on a range of cognitive tests. One caveat, filed under “everything in moderation” found that grandmother’s that babysat five or more days per week performed lower on cognitive tests.