How Caring for Grandkids Can Help with Brain Health

CLEVELAND - National Grandparents Day is this Sunday.

If you enjoy spending time with your grandkids, you may be glad to know it can actually offer some cognitive benefits too.

“Grandparents who participated in care of their grandchildren, driving them, cooking for them, leisure activities with them, and so forth, had better cognition and better cognitive outcomes over time than individuals who didn't care for their grandchildren,” said Dylan Wint, MD, neurologist at Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Wint said the findings come from a study involving nearly 3,000 grandparents over an eight year period.

During that time, participants had to fill out surveys and take tests for memory and language skills.

Researchers found that those who cared for their grandkids scored higher as a group than those who did not.

Dr. Wint involved with the study but said the results confirm what they already know about the importance of staying active as you get older.

“I don't want this to be scary for those who may not have grandchildren or aren't close enough to actually directly participate in their caregiving. I think really the lesson to take away here is that staying busy and active, cognitively engaged, physically engaged, socially engaged, are ways that we can preserve our brain health,” he said. “And the second lesson is this can happen in things that you like to do anyway. So don't feel like you've got to invent some new kind of way to get this activity. If you're doing things that keep you active, then that's good.”

Another notable finding from the study was grandmothers who cared for grandchildren saw less decline on cognitive tests.

Dr. Wint said more research needs to be done to understand why that is.