Albert Parry says grandparents are much fitter these days

He is among those celebrating National Grandparents' Day on Saturday, to highlight the country's super-grans and super granddads.

Albert, from Mold, has weight trained since he left school and was a finalist in the Mr Wales contest.

He is currently Mr Senior Wales for over-55s and weighs the same as he did in 1955.

He said: "What I do find, in the health business, is that grandparents are more able to cope with doing more things with the children.

Grandparents are a second line of defence - you go out into the world, but you always feel that you have someone in the background you can turn to Stan Stennett

"They can play football with them or something like that, because they are fitter.

"People are now realising that exercise along with a sensible diet is the way to go - it's what I try to instil in all the people I come into contact with."

Mr Parry and his wife, Elsie, have three grandchildren. He added: "I didn't do anything sporty with them - my daughter works in a gym - we just sort of spoiled them!"

The role of older people is becoming more important as the UK's population slowly ages.

The Government even has a campaign - Age Positive - to highlight the benefits of employing more oldies.

But grans and granddads already have the commonsense to know that they are the best.

Last year, a poll commissioned by Age Concern and Woolworths found that Welsh grandparents came out on top as advisors to youngsters in the family.

The BBC Wales News website spoke to two other granddads to find out what they enjoy about their age and position in the family.

Deryck Howell believes grandchildren keep you young

Wales' oldest businessman, Deryck Howell, 90, has three grandchildren aged from seven to 11.

He said: "It rejuvenates you, children seem to make you young again. It goes back to when I was a parent rather than a grandparent.

"As the grandchildren grow up, it would be true to say that I seem to get younger.

"Grandparents of today know a kind of life which is very different from the kind of life which parents today know.

"There were children born before the war who never knew what a banana was until the 1950s.

"It's something they can talk about with their grandchildren.

"We had to be quite disciplined and perhaps you can instil a little bit of that discipline in your grandchildren that perhaps parents are not so conscious of."

Stan Stennett enjoys the shared interests with his grandson

Entertainer Stan Stennett MBE, 79, was brought up by his grandmother after he was orphaned. He has one grandson, aged 25.

He said: "It was my great disappointment that I didn't have any granddaughters, just the one grandson. I have always been very close to my two sons and I'm very close to my grandson.

"He was on the television with me when he was five months old when Eamon Andrews did my This Is Your Life.

'Shared interests'

"I enjoy being the one who is pulled aside by him and what okay he didn't get from his mum, he probably got from me."

"I enjoy the fact that I can enjoy some of the things he enjoys, he is musician, he plays the piano and the guitar and he is a good golfer, though he probably didn't get that from me.

"Grandparents are a second line of defence. You go out into the world, but you always feel that you have someone in the background you can turn to.