Childhood hobby leads to lower stress, fewer mental health problems and better brain function as adults
It may be time to take this old-school pastime off the shelf.
A growing body of research suggests that a once-beloved childhood hobby, now increasingly falling by the wayside, is linked to better mental health, sharper cognitive skills and even differences in brain structure later in life.
“It’s something we ought to be encouraging from an early age given the increasing evidence of its benefits, particularly to children, but really, it’s never too late to start,” Professor Barbara Sahakian, a Cambridge University neuroscientist who studies the hobby, said in a press release.
In one analysis, Sahakian and her colleagues looked at data from more than 100,000 young people in the US who were part of the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development study, which tracks children from ages 9 or 10 into early adulthood.
The researchers divided the participants into two groups: Those who started reading for pleasure between the ages of 2 and 9, and those who picked up the habit later — or never at all.
Nearly half (48%) had little experience reading for pleasure or didn’t start until later in childhood. The others had spent between three and 10 years reading for enjoyment.
The team examined clinical interviews, cognitive tests, mental and behavioral assessments and brain scans of each of the young people.
After accounting for factors such as socioeconomic status, they found a strong association between early recreational reading and better cognitive abilities during adolescence.
The early readers scored higher on tests measuring verbal learning, memory and speech development. They also tended to do better academically at school.
But the bibliophiles weren’t just booksmart.
The young readers also had better mental well-being, with fewer signs of stress and depression, along with sharper attention and fewer behavioral problems, including aggression and rule-breaking.
There was another perk: less screen time.
Kids who developed a love for books earlier tended to spend less time watching TV or scrolling on smartphones and tablets during both weekdays and weekends once they reached adolescence. They also tended to get more sleep.
The hobby may have left its mark on their biology, too.
Imaging scans showed that adolescents who had started reading for pleasure early in life had moderately larger overall brain areas and volumes, including regions that play key roles in cognitive function.
Other sections of the brain that differed in the early-reading group have previously been linked to mental health, behavior and attention.
“We encourage parents to do their best to awaken the joy of reading in their children at an early age,” Professor Jianfeng Feng of Fudan University in Shanghai and the University of Warwick in the UK, said in a statement.
“Done right, this will not only give them pleasure and enjoyment, but will also help their development and encourage long-term reading habits, which may also prove beneficial into adult life.”
But more isn’t necessarily better when it comes to this pastime.
Researchers found that the sweet spot for pleasure reading as a young child appeared to be around 12 hours a week.
Beyond that, the benefits appeared to level off — and cognitive scores actually began to dip.
The team isn’t exactly sure why, but one theory is that kids who spend more than 12 hours a week with their noses buried in books may be spending too much time sitting and not enough time on other activities that also give their brains a boost, such as playing sports or socializing with friends.
The findings come at a time when reading for fun is becoming increasingly rare among American kids.
Survey data published in July by the National Center for Education Statistics found that the share of 9-year-olds who read for pleasure has fallen 16 percentage points over the past 13 years.
In 2025, just 37% of 9-year-olds said they read for fun almost every day. That was down from 42% in 2020 — and a steep drop from 53% in 1984.
Meanwhile, the share of 9-year-olds who said they never or hardly ever read for fun reached 17% last year, compared with just 9% in 1984.
“Given how beneficial reading for pleasure is at a young age, we should be doing everything we can to introduce children and young people to reading,” said Dr. Christelle Langley, a cognitive neuroscientist in Cambridge’s Department of Psychiatry.
But the benefits of getting lost in a good book don’t stop once you’re all grown up.
Studies suggest reading can be a boon for adults, too, with links to lower stress, greater relaxation and increased empathy.
Later in life, regularly taking part in mentally stimulating activities such as reading has also been associated with a lower risk of cognitive impairment and neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s.
