Haveyouthankedyourgrandmatoday?Youmightwanttoconsiderit.Arecentstudyfoundthatkidslivelongerwhenagrandmothertakespartintheirdailylives.
Mostanimalsdiesoonaftertheirchildbearingyearsareover.Womenhoweveroftenliveformanyyearsaftertheystophavingkids.
TotrytounderstandwhyresearchersfromFinlandlookedatbirthanddeathrecordsoftwocommunitiesfromthe18thand19thcenturiesoneinFinlandandoneinCanada.Inthesecommunities537Finnishwomenand3290Canadianwomenweregrandmotherswhohadlivedpasttheageof50.
Foreverydecadetheylivedbeyond50theresearchersfoundthatthewomenendedupwithanaverageoftwoextragrandkids.Itdidn’tmatterwhatthedifferencesinhealthorlivingconditionswerebetweenthetwocommunitiesorfromfamilytofamily.
Grandchildrenwerealsomorelikelytoliveintoadulthoodiftheirgrandmotherswerealivewhentheywereborn.Iftheirgrandmotherswereyoungerthan60atthetimethatwasevenbetter.Thestudyalsofoundthatwomenhadchildren2to3yearsearlieriftheirownmotherswerestillaliveatthattimethanthosewhosemothershaddied.
Theresearcherssuggestedthatgrandmothershaveprovidedimportantassistanceinraisingtheirgrandchildrenforatleastthepast200000years.Asaresulttheyhelpedextendeveryone’slifespan.
Sodon’ttakeyourgrandmaforgranted!
【小题1】Howmanywomeninthesurveyinthetwocommunitiesweregrandmotherswhohadlivedpasttheageof50?