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Can “story time” be just as beneficial to children under the weather as chicken soup? As it turns out, yes, a new study finds bedtime stories really do make children in the hospital feel better.
Researchers in Brazil say reading to hospitalized kids reduces pain and stress by fueling certain hormones in the brain. Specifically, reading to children in intensive care boosts their quality of life, the study reports.
The study finds storytelling increases levels of oxytocin, called the “love hormone.” It also helps to reduce cortisol, a hormone released during stress.
This Mom, says yes too!
KC
