Grandparents might increase their grandkids’ cancer risk without knowing
Allowing your children to spend time with their grandparents can be great for their mental condition, but it might not be the same for their physical health. It seems our parents are a bit too indulgent with our children, allowing them to eat more sweets and be a little more careless. Although it sounds harmless, this can have a huge impact on the kids’ cancer risk.
Grandparents often give kids too many sweet treats
A team of researchers developed an extensive review of 56 studies which looked at the impact grandparents have on the health of their grandchildren. Older people tend to regard sweets as less harmful than they are, and they often feed the little ones way too much sugar. Also, they are afraid to leave them play outside too much, for fear of losing them.
This results in a fatal combination. Too many sugary treats might set the path for the development of obesity, diabetes, and many other serious health conditions. Therefore, researchers think that special campaigns should warn grandparents of the risks they might get their grandchildren exposed to.
Researchers support the launch of informative campaigns for grandparents
At the moment, parents are the main target of such informative campaigns. However, most of the time, they are a lot more aware of the risks they should avoid for their children than older people are. As a result, lead author Stephanie Chambers wants to inform grandparents as well.
“Behavior such as exposure to smoking and regularly treating children increases cancer risks as children grow into adulthood.”
Nowadays, women go back to work a lot more quickly after childbirth, so children end up growing up with their parents a lot more often. Once they reach a certain age, they might start taking advantage of grandma and grandpa, as they know they are more likely to do whatever they want. This is why they should be informed that saying ‘no’ to the children more often can protect them from a higher cancer risk.
The study has been published in the journal PLOS One.
Image Source: Max Pixel
