Chicago – Choosing to become a parent may shorten a man’s lifespan. A groundbreaking new study has revealed that fatherhood may have a surprising, negative effect on men’s heart health as they age. Researchers from Northwestern University and the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago found that fathers tend to have poorer cardiovascular health than men who don’t have children.
The survey results can be summarized as follows:
The study was published in the journal AJPM Focusfound that as men age, those with children tend to have poorer cardiovascular health than those without, by looking at factors such as diet, exercise, smoking, weight, blood pressure, and blood lipids/glycemia.
Researchers theorize that the added responsibilities and stresses that come with becoming a parent may make it more difficult for fathers to maintain a healthy lifestyle through habits like regular exercise and a nutritious diet. Simply put, having children can leave men with less time and resources.
But the study also revealed an intriguing paradox: Fathers, despite their poorer cardiovascular health, had lower all-cause mortality rates than childless men. One possible explanation is that fathers benefit from stronger social support systems and future caregivers in the form of their adult children.
There were also some notable differences across racial and ethnic groups. Black fathers bucked the overall trend and had lower mortality rates than childless black men. The Northwestern team says this suggests that fatherhood may be somehow protective for black men’s health, perhaps by motivating them to engage in healthier behaviors.
Unfortunately, young fathers (those under 25 when they had their first child) had the poorest heart health and the highest mortality rates, especially among black and Hispanic men. Scientists speculate that socioeconomic factors, like financial instability and lack of welfare benefits, may make it extremely difficult for young fathers to prioritize self-care.
How did researchers make this discovery?
For this first multi-ethnic study, the researchers: Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). The men self-identified as black, Chinese, Hispanic, or white. Participants were classified as fathers (82% of the group) or non-fathers based on whether they stated whether they had children during the interview. The researchers then rated each man’s overall cardiovascular health using the American Heart Association’s “eight essentials of life” (excluding sleep).
By tracking and comparing these cardiovascular health factors over time between fathers and childless men, the researchers were able to analyze how fatherhood affects men’s heart health as they enter older age. Their robust analysis, controlling for potentially conflicting variables, revealed surprising findings.
What do researchers say?
“The changes in heart health we found suggest that the added stress of childcare responsibilities and the transition to fatherhood may make it more difficult for men to maintain a healthy lifestyle, including healthy diet and exercise,” said Dr. John James Parker, internist, pediatrician, assistant professor of pediatrics and general medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and corresponding author of the study, in a media release. “We need to study fathers as a unique population and track the health of men who become fathers. Cardiovascular health is especially important because all health behaviors and health factors are modifiable.”
“If you’re under 25, you may be less financially stable, your brain may be less mature, and, especially if you’re a racial and ethnic minority, you may be in a job that pays less, offers fewer benefits, and has limited vacation policies,” Parker explains. “All of this can make it harder to focus on health. There are lots of public health interventions aimed at young mothers, but no one has looked at young fathers in this serious way.”
“We often focus on the health of mothers and children and don’t think about fathers, but fathers’ health has a profound impact on the family,” Parker concluded, noting that previous research has shown that obese spouses are more likely to have obese partners. “To improve family health, we need to consider the multidirectional relationships between mothers, fathers, other caregivers, and children.”
