Parents live longer than couples without children, study finds

[struggle4progress]

By Karen Kaplan
December 6, 2012, 2:13 p.m.

... That’s one way of looking at the data in a new study that compares death rates among couples with and without children. After examining data on more than 21,276 Danish couples who tried to get pregnant, researchers calculated that women who gave birth to a child were four times more likely to be alive at the end of the study period compared with women who remained childless. The benefit to men was smaller but still significant — those who fathered children were twice as likely to be alive compared with men who remained childless.

The couples in the study all sought treatment for infertility; some of those who didn’t get pregnant using in vitro fertilization went on to adopt children. These parents also seemed to get a health boost — the mothers in this group were 33% less likely to die compared with women who never had children, and the adoptive fathers were 45% less likely to die.

Previous studies have found a correlation between parenthood and mortality, with the lowest risk of premature death going to couples with two kids. (Of course, everyone has a 100% risk of death in the long run.) But none of this data prove that raising kids is responsible for a longer life.

The authors of the new study, published Wednesday in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, also noted that these data offer a better look at the link between parenthood and health because all of the parents in the study wanted to become parents — that’s why they tried fertility treatments. In other studies, it was possible that childless couples were fundamentally different from parents in ways that influenced their health ...

http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-parenthood-health-mortality-20121206,0,5295805.story

[Bonhomme Richard]

1. So for a long slow death................n/t

[enough]

2. This studies only people who very much wanted children and could not have them.

This is a study of people who "sought treatment for infertility." Who knows what this means for the population of childless people in general.

To my mind the most interesting paragraph is that last one, which does not have to do with being childless:

Quote last paragraph>

The study also examined the link between parenthood and mental health. It found that couples with their own biological children had the same rates of psychiatric illnesses as childless couples. But mothers and fathers of adopted children saw their risk drop by about half.

End quote>

[Speck Tater]

3. If you have kids,

you have someone to keep an eye on you when you get old. It makes a difference if there is somebody checking up on a 90 year old living alone.

It's like married people live longer than singles because if you're married there's somebody to call the ambulance in the middle of the night when you keel over. That fact alone could easily account for the difference in life span. If you're married the ambulance gets called quickly. If you live alone, the landlord finds you on the kitchen floor after the neighbors start complaining about the smell.

[Kalidurga]

4. That's what I was thinking...

Other possibilities are people with kids want to model healthy behavior so they might be more inclined to curb unhealthy habits.

Kids bring groups of people together i.e. play dates, parent teacher conferences, sports, etc... where there are built in networking opportunities.

People are happier when they sacrifice a bit for others it's like having a 24/7 volunteer job.

I am sure there are a lot of other possible reasons, but that's all I can think of for now.

[LeftishBrit]

7. Good point.

[Warpy]

5. What needs to be pointed out here

is that the childless couples weren't child free by choice, they were people for whom some pathology or other had interfered with conception, rendering one or both sterile.

Now they need to do it again, this time with healthy people who have simply decided to remain child free.

[LeftishBrit]

6. Perhaps healthier people have a better chance of success at becoming parents

Also these are all people who very strongly wanted to become parents, and were undergoing intensive treatment. Perhaps the stress of repeated disappointment had a bad effect on the health of those who did not have a child.