Parents React to New Study That Finds Surprising Links Between Having Children and Living a Longer Life
Parents with two kids were 5 to 10% more likely to live to the age of 76 than those without children.
The children can have a significant impact on a person’s lifespan, with two children providing the greatest health benefit, according to a new study.
The University of Michigan recently published research after reviewing the health and genetic information of 276,000 individuals living in the United Kingdom.
Researchers determined that having children was associated with a greater likelihood of surviving to the age of 76.
“One thing that is relatively clear is that having children is more beneficial to longevity than not having children at all,” study author Professor Jianzhi Zhang said. “What we measured was the probability of living to the age of 76. Those with children have a 5-10 percentage point advantage over those without children.”
The study found that having two kids corresponds to the most extended lifespan. However, having fewer or more kids can actually lower a person’s lifespan.
Citing previous studies, Zhang suggested that people with children tend to have more frequent social interactions, such as communication with parents and teachers. Research has consistently confirmed that significant social interaction and close community bonds are linked to a longer life.
“It is possible that having two children strikes a balance between having a good amount of social interactions and not having too much economic or physical burden,” Zhang said.
Author and mother of six Bethany Mandel toldthat children lend parents life purpose and direction.
“Having kids makes me want to live longer; I want to see them grow up, get married and have their own children,” she said. “They are an intrinsic motivator to socialize, be healthier and ensure that I’m able, to the best of my ability, be around for the rest of their lives.”
Former lobbyist and Capitol Hill communications aide Lauren Appell has also written extensively about parenting and children. She said that investing in kids is a bond “greater than any social connection” and forms a level of personal commitment that “can never be matched by any earthly success.”
“When you consider that studies have shown that people with a greater sense of fulfillment and strong social connections generally live longer than those who don’t then it’s no surprise that people with kids are more likely to outlive those who don’t,” she added.
The study also found strong support for an evolutionary theory proposed by biologist George Williams in 1957. Williams claimed that genetic mutations that contribute to aging could be favored in natural selection if they are advantageous in early life to earlier reproduction or the production of more offspring.
Researchers found that reproduction and lifespan are negatively correlated, meaning genetic mutations that promote reproduction shorten a person’s lifespan.
However, the authors also noted that reproduction and lifespan are affected by both genes and the environment. When compared to environmental factors such as contraception, medical advances, access to online resources and abortion, genetic factors play a very minor role.
“Natural selection cares little about how long we live after the completion of reproduction because our fitness is largely set by the end of reproduction,” Zhang said.
For the study, Zhang and Erping Long of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College examined the frequency of 583 genetic variants associated with reproduction. They concluded that several variants linked to higher reproduction and lower lifespan have become more common in recent decades.
“These trends are primarily driven by substantial environmental shifts, including changes in lifestyle and technologies, and are opposite to the changes caused by natural selection of the genetic variants identified in this study,” Zhang added.
