Fathers Play Uniquely Critical Role in Health of Children, Study Finds

The results of a new study on the role that fathers play in the health of their children has surprised researchers, revealing that the amount of attentiveness that a father pays to his infant affects the child’s future heart and metabolic health, while finding no such correlation with mothers. The study reinforces a massive body of evidence pointing to how critical both a father and a mother are to the healthy development of their children.

The journal Health Psychology recently published the results of a long-term study of 292 families, which observed the behavior of fathers as they had three-way interactions with their 10-month old children and their spouses. As summarized by The New York Times, the researchers “found that fathers who were less attentive to their 10-month-olds were likely to have trouble co-parenting, instead withdrawing or competing with mothers for the children’s attention. And at age 7, the children of those fathers were more likely to have markers of poor heart or metabolic health, such as inflammation and high blood sugar.” ….

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