Children of older fathers nearly twice as likely to die before adulthood
When we think about the biological clock ticking away, we pretty much immediately think of women. After all, age only matters for the mom -- the father can be as old as he wants and it doesn't make a difference, right?According to a recent Danish study of over 100,000 children, not exactly. Children in the study who were fathered by men over 45 were much less likely to reach their nineteenth birthday than were the children of men in their late 20s.
The older men's children were especially likely to die from birth defects like heart problems. Another common cause of death was as a result of suicide, accidents, or fights, which could be explained by their higher rates of autism, epilepsy, and schizophrenia.
Another study was done recently with different results. In the U.S., a five-year study found that the children of teenage fathers were the least healthy, and that children fathered by older men were as healthy as those fathered by men in their 20s. British experts think that the role of the "sugar daddy" explains this -- whereas teenage fathers are more likely to father unplanned children and less likely to be able to provide them financially, older fathers are more likely to be able to provide for any needs their child might have, including medical.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-02-2008 @ 10:44AM
Judy said...
I hate reading things like this. My husband was 42 and 44 when our sons were born, and we're not sure we're done having babies - he'll be 47 in a few weeks. Being a college professor, he seems to know lots of people who start their families later and have children in their 40s and 50s.
The second study was reassuring. I do wonder what role socioeconomic factors and education play in these kinds of things. It's not enough to keep us from having more (I'm a lot younger than him, and will be turning 30 in a few weeks), but it does make us think about these things.
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6-03-2008 @ 12:37PM
Semantics said...
Interesting. Not too many weeks ago, there was a study done showing that children of older fathers lived longer than the children with young fathers. Wonder what would happen if both of the studies information was run together. Might show that everyone dies in their own good time.
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