Heart disease is the leading cause of death among men, and being a father may put men at an even greater risk of poor heart health later in life, reports a new study. The study of 2,814 men between the ages of 45 and 84 found cardiovascular health in older age was worse for fathers compared to non-fathers.
Study participants' heart health was rated based on their diet, physical activity, smoking habits, weight, blood pressure, and level of lipids and glucose in their blood.
"The changes in heart health we found suggest that the added responsibility of childcare and the stress of transitioning to fatherhood may make it difficult for men to maintain a healthy lifestyle, such as a healthy diet and exercise," said corresponding author Dr. John James Parker, an internist, pediatrician and assistant professor of pediatrics and general internal medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
"Fathers may also be more likely to have someone as their future caretaker to help them attend medical appointments and manage medications and treatments as they get older," Parker said."We also found that fathers had lower rates of depressive symptoms than nonfathers, so mental health may be contributing to the lower age-adjusted death rates in fathers."
Previous studies that evaluated fatherhood, cardiovascular health, cardiovascular disease and mortality have not included racially and ethnically diverse populations and lacked comprehensive cardiovascular health evaluation. This study is novel because it included men from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis .
"A lot of times we focus on the health of mothers and children, and we don't even think of fathers, but their health has a major influence on their family," said Parker, citing previous research that found higher obesity rates among partners if their spouse was obese."To improve the health of families, we need to consider the multi-directional relationship among mothers, fathers, other caregivers and children.
The scientists defined study participants' cardiovascular health using the American Heart Association Life's Essential 8 scores . Men were categorized as either fathers or nonfathers based on an interview in which participants were asked to list any children's ages and medical conditions. Men who did not list any children were categorized as nonfathers.
Diseases And Conditions Fitness Health Policy Public Health Education Heart Disease Medical Topics Children's Health
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