The correlations between fatherhood and heart disease are generally not examined or flagged as risk factors for men presenting for health checks.
From a men’s health perspective, heart disease remains the number one killer in Australia, with twice as many males experiencing heart attacks compared to females.
In Australia where 5.4 million men are fathers, the question being asked is- does being a dad put you at a greater risk of cardiovascular disease?
Fatherhood and Men’s Health
A University of Auckland report highlighted that, ‘there is growing evidence that men’s health around the time they father a child exerts a biological influence on their child’s health. This influence may persist across multiple generations’.
The report leans into existing evidence which shows that a father’s physical health and nutrition at the time of a child’s conception correlates with predictors of diabetes, heart disease and obesity in their offspring.
Additional studies have shown that early-fatherhood can be associated with lower financial stability, increased chance of multiple partnerships and higher symptoms of depression.
Does Being a Father Affect the Risk of Heart Disease?
A new study by researchers from Chicago have explored heart disease from the point of view of fatherhood. This research study included 2814 men involved in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) study. The results of the study found-
Men who became fathers at a younger age (under 24 years age at the time of their eldest child’s birth) had ‘worse overall cardiovascular disease compared with fathers who were >35 years old.’
White fathers had worse overall cardiovascular health than white non-fathers. There were no statistical difference between fathers and non-fathers for Black, Hispanic or Chinese participants.
Fathers in this study had worse overall cardiovascular disease and higher nicotine exposure than non-fathers.
Interestingly, fathers overall had lower mortality rates than non-fathers in this study.
Study Discussion
The higher levels of cardiovascular risk could not be directly attributed to being a father, but rather multiple other factors (e.g. biological or social) could be contributors to developing heart disease.
Secondly, it was proposed that the reason fathers had lower mortality rates then non-fathers (despite the higher cardiovascular risk) may speak to the increased social support systems that fathers may experience later in life (e.g. their children looking after them in older age as one example). The protective nature of family supports operates as a positive influence for grandparents and older persons.
Real Men’s Health Takeaway
The results of this study show that fatherhood is an important social determinant of health, one which has been overlooked in health and policy discussions. Supporting fathers up until old age can improve and even increase life-expectancy.
