Playing with grandchildren, an excellent way to prevent osteoporosis
Much is often said about the benefits that grandparents bring to their grandchildren and the great help they give to their parents. These relatives in many cases they become the perfect kangaroos for the children and a source of values that will help to personally improve the smallest of the house. However, this relationship has positive results for seniors as well.
Spending time with your grandchildren is a good tool to fight against osteoporosis. This chronic disease reduces the mobility of the elderly and affects their day-to-day life, preventing them from continuing with their rhythm of life. However, the care of these relatives is a very fun way to reduce their effects while spending a time full of laughs and good memories.
Stay standing
One of the best ways to prevent osteoporosis It is the practice of exercise. However, many older people who reach a certain age tend to focus on a more sedentary lifestyle. The lack of work after retirement and the feeling of tiredness cause grandparents to minimize their physical activity and prefer to stay at home.
This is where the family has to act and encourage grandparents to Not stay at home and to go out to the street to move. At this point the grandchildren are a great help to get the elderly up. Children are an inexhaustible source of energy that can be spread by making these people go out to enjoy this quality time with their little relatives.
The practice of this exercise contributes to the prevention of osteoporosis since with these practices bones and muscles are activated and move. Experts recommend at least 20 minutes a day of walking as a practice to keep this disease away and the care of grandchildren can be a good option to meet them. Give walks next to them, participating in their games or picking them up at school will keep grandparents standing while the children are left in the care of someone they trust, with whom they will surely enjoy.
Other benefits for grandparents
Spending time with grandparents not only results in benefits in the physical field. Thanks to these moments the feeling of loneliness in the elderly is reduced, something that helps prevent very serious diseases such as Alzheimer's. This is shown in a study by the Alzheimer's Research and Treatment Center in Brighan Hospital in Boston.
This work focused on demonstrating how loneliness favored the production of amyloid, protein associated with the development of Alzheimer's. People with a high level of this component are more likely to suffer from this degenerative disease. For this, they analyzed the cases of 43 women and 36 men of an average age of 76 years. They underwent psychological tests and were asked about their feelings and the relationship with their environment.
The people who said they felt loneliest were those who presented higher levels of amyloid, that is, were more likely to end up developing Alzheimer's. For this reason, relatives are encouraged to visit the elderly regularly and spend time with them to avoid this feeling appearing in them and helping in the prevention of this problem.
Damián Montero
