You might be more prone to pulling out your hair, but having children is a possible catalyst to living longer, according to a new study published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.
Specifically, the study found a link to greater longevity for those with kids compared to their childless counterparts especially as they get older.
Researchers looked at lifespans of 704,481 men and 725,290 women from age 60 and up, all residing in Sweden and born between 1911 and 1925. The study, which relied on national registry data, examined marital status in addition to how many children each person had and their respective sexes.
Death risk naturally ticks upward as people age. But apart from other factors like education, having one child at a minimum meant a lower risk of dying sooner than having no children. This was more the case for men than women.
At age 60, men with children were expected to live another 20.2 years compared to 18.4 years for men without children. For women at the same age, the numbers were 24.6 years and 23.1 years. By age 80, men with children were expected to live 7.7 more years and women 9.5 years, longer than their childless peers at 7 and 8.9 years.
Still, the reasons for longevity don’t just relate to having children.
“In terms of all other causes that would affect your death risk in these old ages, having a child is not among the greatest ones,” study author Karin Modig told the Guardian. “But it is still a 1.5% difference [for 90-year-old men] which is still substantial.”
The study did not reveal whether the sex of the child matters for longevity, though earlier research has considered “the social benefits of having a daughter,” according to a news release. Researchers in this study surmise that other factors could be more influential in terms of longevity, like figuring out the health system, where sons could help just as much.
Researchers could also not offer any conclusive cause and effect for the study’s results, since it was observational.
“Support from adult children to aging parents may be of importance for parental health and longevity,” according to the researchers. “At old age, the stress of parenthood is likely to be lower and instead, parents can benefit from social support from their children. In addition, parents have on average more healthful behaviors than childless individuals.”
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Study: If You’re Trying to Live Longer, Have Kids originally appeared on usnews.com
