Good news for grandparents: Babysitting your grandkids can help you live longer

If you love spending time with your grandkids you're in for some good news.

It seems that grandparents who spend a lot of time with their grandchildren live longer. In fact, babysitting your grandchildren regularly could add at least five years to your life! Yes, apparently grandparents who babysit or provide some level of care to their grandkids have lower risks of death over a 20-year period than older adults who did not take on caregiving roles. This is according to a recent study published in Evolution and Human Behavior. The study conducted its research using data taken from the Berlin Aging Study, which is used to track the health outcomes of more than 500 people aged 70 and older. So why is this? Some believe that a lot of the health benefits that come from regularly babysitting is down to them keeping you on your toes. Keeping physically fit becomes more important the older we get and children know just how to keep you running around. According to the original study;

"Grandparenting has been proposed as an ultimate evolutionary mechanism that has contributed to the increase in human life expectancy."

So there you have it, forget the lotions and potions, babysitting is the real key to living longer.