祖父母在身邊有利於保護人類物種的生存

They dote on their grandchildren, offer a treasure trove of wisdom and provide an invaluable babysitting service.

But it seems grandparents have a more crucial role – survival of the species.

Their practical and financial support helps keep youngsters fit and healthy, while their love and ability to listen helps children and teens get through difficult periods such as the divorce of their parents.

The conclusions come from Swiss and Australian researchers who analysed previous studies from around the world to pin down the role of grandparents. Several studies have linked grandmothers, in particular, with survival of the species.

A maternal grandmother, a child's mother's mother, is particularly nurturing. This could be because they can be more certain than any other grandparent that the child is part of their genetic line, with DNA that has not been tainted by affairs, and so worth the investment.

Maternal grandfathers produce the second highest level of care, followed by paternal grandmothers. Paternal grandfathers generally show the least interest, the journal Psychological Science reports.

University of Western Australia researcher David Coall said grandparents may also be motivated by the thought of having someone to take care of them when they grow old. If this is the case, they will shower their attention on the grandchildren whose parents are most likely to reciprocate in the future. Children don't just benefit from better physical health if a grandparent is around – the emotional support can also be of huge value.據英國《每日郵報》11月22日報道，祖父母寵愛自己的孫輩，爲他們提供了一個珍貴的智慧寶庫以及無價的看護服務。

但似乎祖父母還有一個更加重要的作用——保護物種的生存。

他們在實際生活和經濟上的支持幫助青少年保持身體健康，而他們的愛護和傾聽的能力則能夠幫助兒童和青少年度過困難的時期，比如說父母離異。

這一結論出自於瑞士和澳大利亞的研究人員，他們分析了此前世界各地的相關研究，以確定祖父母的作用。其中一些研究特別指出了祖母與物種生存的關係。

外祖母，也就是孩子的母親的母親，在養育孫輩上尤其用心。這可能是因爲比起其他祖父母輩，她們更加確信孩子的DNA沒有被其它什麼風流韻事幹擾，的確是她們基因延續的一部分，所以值得她們付出愛。

據《心理科學》雜誌報道，外祖父在付出關心的多少上排行第二，緊接着是祖母，而祖父則對寵愛孫輩表現出了相對最少的興趣。

澳大利亞西澳大學的研究員大衛·克奧爾說，祖父母會這樣做的思想動機，可能是因爲他們希望在老了以後能夠有人照顧他們。如果是這樣的話，他們就會對孫子輩傾注所有的注意力，因爲孫輩的父母是最有可能在未來回報他們的人。如果有祖父母在身邊，不僅有益於孩子的身體健康——情感上的支持也非常有價值。