Parenthood may have cardio-protective effects

Adults with children had significantly lower blood pressure compared with nonparents, data from a recently published study indicated.

Researchers from several U.S. sites measured cardiovascular functioning during a 24-hour period among 198 participants enrolled from a larger study focused on marriage. Among the 99 couples that participated, 138 were parents vs. 60 nonparents.

Inclusion criteria included no existing history of hypertension, cardiovascular prescription medication, chronic diseases with a cardiovascular or immune component and no recent history of a psychological disorder.

Using an ambulatory BP monitor, the researchers measured participants’ BP three times per hour during the day and once per hour at night. They found that having children resulted in significantly reduced BP , accounting for a six-point difference in systolic BP and a three-point difference in diastolic BP.

Additionally, gender and parental status were important factors in predicting BP differences, with the lowest ambulatory BP observed among women with children and the highest among women without children, accounting for a 12-point difference in systolic and a seven-point difference in diastolic BP.

Parental status continued to be a reliable predictor independent of the effects of age, ethnicity, and number of years married, years married before the birth of the first child and maternal employment status. The effects also appeared to be consistent across various stages of parenting, according to the researchers.

There were no significant differences in lifestyle factors including numbers of hours spent exercising each week, smoking or alcohol consumption between parents and nonparents.

“[D]espite the potential daily strain associated with parenting, having children does not seem to be associated with detrimental physiological processes but rather may be cardio-protective, particularly among women,” the researchers wrote.

A number of evolutionary and socio-cultural factors may help explain these benefits, but more research is needed to “establish the actual mechanisms for the effects," including more study into neurobehavioral stress responsiveness and the family context in which parenting occurs.

Holt-Lunstad J. Ann Behav Med. 2010;doi: 10.1007/s12160-009-9152-1.