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. 2025 Oct;37(9):543-554.
doi: 10.1177/08982643241273197. Epub 2024 Aug 24.

Grandparenting and Physical Activity

Patricia Drentea  1 , Greg Pavela  2 , Lu Tian  1 , Julie L Locher  3
Affiliations

Grandparenting and Physical Activity

Patricia Drentea et al. J Aging Health. 2025 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine a continuum of grandparenting intensity and its association with physical activity using three perspectives: grandparents are active, the more constraints perspective, and the selection bias perspective. Method: We use 2014 data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally-representative panel study of the US population over the age of 50 and their spouses (n = 17,851). Results: We found that greater grandparenting intensity was inversely associated with physical activity, providing support for both the more constraints perspective and the selection bias perspective. Discussion: We discuss the implications of inequality in which the most advantaged with physical activity are those who were either not grandparents, or grandparents who provided less care.

Keywords: families; grandparents; health; living arrangements; physical activity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.