Aussie grandparents spoil grandkids more than they did their own offspring, study finds
It’s an age old assumption that grandparents spoil their grandkids much more than they did their own — now it’s been scientifically proven. Here’s how Aussie nans and pops are ensuring their offspring get the best of everything.
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Grandparents treat their grandkids with food in order to show their love and reward good behaviour, a new study has found.
Although grandmothers and grandfathers think they’re stricter than their own children, they regularly give their grandchildren food treats.
Flinders University researchers, led by Dr Emily Rogers, conducted in-depth interviews with 11 South Australian grandparents. Most were aged over 60 and cared for their grandkids at least seven hours a week.
They found many justify their liberal use of treats because they don’t have their grandchildren all the time.
As one grandparent interviewed said: “I just think it’s nice to give her [grandchild] some sort of reward, whether it’s a book or something or food … I wanna see her happy”.
Another said that when their grandchildren were well behaved “then I would suggest they have an ice cream”.
And: “There’s no rules about what they can eat; as far as we’re concerned, we’ve got carte blanche [complete freedom to act as one wishes] if you like”.
Grandparents in the study nonetheless thought their own children’s parenting styles were more permissive and “different from how they did it in their day”.
One noted that she would never ask her own children: “What do you want for dinner tonight?” when they were young. “But now I often hear my daughter say, ‘Now, what do you want for dinner tonight? What do you want?’” she said.
Despite this, the researchers said the grandparents “respected the power, authority, and responsibility of parents over their grandchildren’s health and wellbeing and saw their role as secondary to this”.
As one grandparent interviewed said: “If the parents say no, I will say no”.
Grandparents were also sympathetic about the pressures of modern parenting, with one noting their children were often tired and stressed from work.
The results come as grandparents are now the largest informal carers of children under the age of five in Australia. The study, which was also conducted by Dr Lucinda Bell and Dr Kaye Mehta, was published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behaviour.
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