Health Need Not Suffer When Caring for Grandkids
Stresses most often found to be temporary

(HealthDay News) -- It may not be a walk in the park, but taking care of grandchildren generally won't take a toll on a grandparent's health.

And even if the care needs to be constant because the children's parent is absent, any dip in the grandparent's health status will probably be temporary.

Research published in the Journal of Gerontology: Social Science found that even when grandparents provided 50 hours of care a week, they didn't suffer ill health effects. Earlier studies had suggested that taking care of grandchildren could cause health problems from the added stress and exertion required to care for youngsters.

The U.S. Census estimates that grandparents provide child care for about 23 percent of American children younger than 5, reports the AARP. Among young children who live only with their fathers, about one-third are being cared for, at least part-time, by their grandparents.

The AARP notes that most grandparents provide care because they want to be a part of the children's lives. Others do it to help their adult children who may not be able to afford private child care. But some grandparents get paid for the care they provide -- an estimated one in five, the AARP states.

Providing child care can prove more stressful than grandparents expect it to be, especially if they're still working. The AARP also points out that it can be stressful when child-rearing practices differ between the parents and grandparents.

The study, which involved nearly 13,000 participants, found that about 29 percent of grandmothers and 22 percent of grandfathers provided more than 50 hours of care a week for grandchildren who didn't live with them. About 7 percent of grandmothers and 5 percent of grandfathers lived with their children and their grandchildren.

Fewer than 3 percent of the grandparents shared a home with only their grandchildren. But it was in those homes, where the parents were gone, that caring for youngsters had at least a temporary negative impact on the grandparents' health.

"But those who continued with the arrangements saw a modest improvement, suggesting the negative effect of starting this kind of care-giving disappears as the arrangement continues," the study's authors wrote.

Some of the stress felt by the grandparents might be associated with their child's situation. Previous studies that have shown a negative health impact on care-giving grandparents often included mothers who had been jailed or were involved with drugs.

"We find increases in depressive symptoms and declines in self-rated health for grandmothers who begin skipped-generation care but no change in the other health dimensions we examined," the researchers added. "We find a small improvement in self-rated health for grandmothers who continue this kind of care."

On the Web

To learn about making a home safe for grandchildren, visit AARP.

SOURCES: HealthDay News ; University of Chicago , news release, May 29, 2007; AARP (www.aarp.org)
Author: Serena Gordon
Publication Date: July 31, 2008
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