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研究显示，溺爱的老人往往会给孩子带来许多额外的健康风险。但另一方面，老人的参与不仅能帮家里省下一大笔育儿经费，对儿童的心理健康也有正面作用。要不要让老人照顾孩子？这是一个难以抉择的问题。
测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
Misdemeanour n. 坏事，轻罪 /ˌmɪsdɪ'miːnə（r）/
indulgentadj. 纵容的，任性的 /ɪn'dʌldʒənt/
synthesise v. 合成 /'sɪnθəsaɪz/
tailspin n. 失控，不景气 /'teɪlspɪn/
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When a friend came downstairs one morning to discover his son dressed for school and tucking into breakfast, only one thing soured the scene of domestic bliss: the boy was breakfasting on crisps.
Why was his child munching from a pack of cheese and onion at 7.30am, he asked his father-in-law, who lives with the family. The question was batted away. “Because he asked,” came the reply.
My friend sees these transgressions as a glitch in an otherwise brilliant deal: free childcare on tap. Such grandparental misdemeanours are far from unique.
Another friend turns a blind eye to the telly-watching marathons and the block of butter in every meal because she's “so grateful for the help”.
A report published this week found that indulgent grandparents who are involved in their grandchildren's care may be having a negative effect on their health.
The University of Glasgow study, which synthesised research on grandparents' influence, found there is an increase in the risk factors linked with cancer — diet, obesity, lack of activity and exposure to tobacco.
Researchers also noted that there was conflict within families because parents felt unable to raise objections to the grandparents' care as they needed the support. Parents did not know how to discuss the issue. Keeping a grandparent in line is far harder than dealing with an underperforming paid employee.
The subsequent headlines that suggested “killer grannies” were force-feeding their sofa-bound grandkids sent Gransnet, the community forum for grandparents, into a tailspin.
“We baby-boomers are being blamed for something else,” one complaineD.“Last time it was our fault that houses were so expensive. Rise up Grannies and Grandpas and fight back!”
They have a point. Only this week, Sajid Javid, the UK communities minister, ticked off selfish “baby-boomers who have long since paid off their mortgage” with “no understanding” of the modern housing market.
Mess with the grandparent army at your peril. The grey-haired footsoldiers are everywhere — wheeling toddlers around supermarkets, pitching up at playgroups, congregating at the school gates. Without their help the global economy would grind to a halt. In recognition of their role, the UK government plans to change the rules on shared parental leave to include grandparents.
But all too often, says Maeve Thompson of Grandparents Plus, a UK charity, policy tends to focus on formal childcare and overlooks the influence grandparents can have on children's lives.
One grandmother I know arrives every morning before the kids wake up to get them ready for school so their parents can do a two-hour commute to the office. A grandfather of a neighbour used to travel down from the north of England to London every week to look after his toddler grandchild for two days. He did this for his scientist son and daughter-in-law to be able to continue their careers.
Such grandparents enable parents to shave much-needed money off astronomical childcare bills. This is something I know all too well. When I totted up how much my own mother saves us in childminder fees, it came to more than £2,000 a year.
I am hardly alone. A report this year found that grandmothers and grandfathers save parents £16.1bn each year in formal childcare costs, about £1,786 per family.
The toll on the grandparents of all this extra work might be too much. As one person who works with the retirees confided: “A lot of grandparents have planned retirement without predicting they would look after a two-year-old.”
In the BBC2 comedy Motherland, one grandmother is so sick of nannying she hides behind the sofa to escape the school pick-ups.
Yet if it works, these grandchildcare arrangements can be great. The friend who wilfully ignores her daughter's binge-telly sessions does so not just because she is grateful for the childcare, but because her mother and daughter have such an easy, loving relationship. Her daughter can tell her grandmother things that she would prefer not to tell my friend.
Ann Buchanan, senior research associate at the University of Oxford, points out “the key issue is that grandparent involvement is associated with better mental health in grandchildren”. This may translate to better outcomes at school and resilience that can stretch into adolescence.
Let's not panic just yet. The grandkids are all right. Even if their cornflakes are occasionally served with a side order of ice-cream.
请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：
A.Because they are unable to bear the cost of formal childcare.
B.Because they feel unable to raise objections to their children' demand.
C.Because they are unaware of the negative influence of grandparents.
D.Because they feel utterly grateful for grandparents' childcare.
答案 (1)
A.Grandparents can bring children many risk factors linked with cancer.
B.Parents did not know how to discuss health issue with their children.
C.Grandparents who are involved in childcare may led to conflict within family.
D.Children brought up by grandparents are more likely to suffer from cancer.Because they are unable to bear the cost of formal childcare.
答案 (2)
A.Baby-boomers have no understanding of modern childcare practices.
B.Grandparents help to save over £2,000 in formal childcare costs per family.
C.The UK government plans to place a higher value on grandparents' childcare.
D.A majority of grandparents have grown so sick of nannying their gradchildren.
答案 (3)
A.Cautionary.
B.Ambivalent.
C.Critical.
D.Approving.
答案 (4)
(1) 答案 D.Because they feel utterly grateful for grandparents' childcare.解释：另一位朋友选择对孩子边看电视边吃饭和饭里的黄油块视而不见，因为她“非常感谢他们的帮助”。
(2) 答案 A.Grandparents can bring children many risk factors linked with cancer.解释：格拉斯哥大学的综合研究考察了对祖父母的影响，发现祖父母照顾的儿童出现癌症相关的风险因素——饮食，肥胖，缺乏活动和吸烟的风险增加。
(3) 答案C.The UK government plans to place a higher value on grandparents' childcare.解释：英国政府计划修改规定，将祖父母包括在共享育儿假之内。
(4) 答案D.Approving.解释：不必惊慌。孙子孙女们都没事。即使他们吃的玉米片偶尔还带着冰淇淋。