Educators always say reading to kids is a great way to help with your kid's education, but reading can improve your health even as an adult. Whether you are curled up on the couch engrossed in an autobiography or tucked away in bed late at night with a good mystery, experts say that reading can do wonders for your health.  Ashley Pratt, A Psychotherapist for OSF Healthcare, says that it's one of the best things we can do for mental and physical health.

Research shows that 75% of adults participate in some form of reading, however, according to a separate study, the number of children between the ages of 9-13 reading, has dropped in the last decade. 

Pratt says most people need just six minutes of reading time a day to see some health benefits, especially for children. 

Pratt says reading fiction tends to be the most helpful when it comes to increasing skills such as empathy and the ability to learn and understand people.  It also shows an increase in resiliency and an ability to handle difficult emotions as readers learn about characters and the challenges they face.

Pratt says reading can also be an escape.

If you don't like to read, there are other ways that you can reap the benefits of reading. 

Just a few pages a day can help set your mind at ease and relieve stress.  Sometimes putting the phone down can go a long way.