Association between Living with Children and the Health and Health Behavior of Women and Men. Are There Differences by Age? Results of the “German Health Update” (GEDA) Study

Abstract

Does the health of women and men living with and without minor children differ, and are age differences evident in the association? For self-rated general health, depression, back pain, overweight, smoking and sporting inactivity, the GEDA data 2009–2012 (18–54 years, n = 39,096) were used to calculate prevalence for women and men stratified by parental status (living with children: yes/no) and age. Moreover, we calculated odds ratios and predictive margins, performing logistic regressions with interaction terms of parental status and age. Women and men aged 45–54 living with children are healthier than those not living with children. Parents aged 18–24 smoke more frequently and do less sport; young mothers are also more likely to be overweight and suffer from back pain than women not living with children. In multivariable analysis, the interaction of living with children and age is significant for all outcomes (except depression and back pain in men). Living with children is an important social determinant of health, highly dependent on age. It is to be discussed whether the bio-psycho-social situation has an influence on becoming a parent, or whether parenthood in different phases of life strains or enhances health.

Association between Parenthood and Health Behaviour in Later Life—Results from the Population-Based CARLA Study

“…The results of this study indicate that fatherhood is associated with sport index and being active in sports in adults aged 45 and older. Higher levels of physical activity among elderly parents compared to non-parents were also reported by earlier studies [7,14], although this question has received scant attention in the previous literature. It is interesting to note that this result is contrary to research in younger parents, which has suggested decreased physical activity levels in parents when compared to their childless counterparts [8][9][10][11][12][13]15].…”

“…Previous research has focused often on health behaviour among parents of young children. When compared to their childless counterparts, parents spent less time in moderate to vigorous physical activity [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. In terms of nutrition, some studies reported a slightly higher intake of energy and fat among parents [ 16 , 17 ], whereas other studies found no difference in dietary pattern between parents and childless individuals [ 11 , 18 ].…”

“…However, following the fact that unstandardised outcome variables were used and the analyses were only adjusted for age and education [ 7 ], more research in elderly populations is strongly required, especially since data from the “German Health Update” (GEDA) showed that the association between living with children and health behaviours varied with the parents’ age. The authors found that parenthood (defined as living with children) was associated with adverse health behaviours in younger adults, whereas parents between the ages of 45 and 54 behaved more healthily than non-parents [ 14 ]. Another study that compared the health of parents with children of different ages showed that parents whose youngest child was 30 years and older had higher levels of life satisfaction than non-parents and better physical and mental health outcomes than parents of younger children [ 26 ].…”

“…The explanation for the differences in health was considered to result from lifestyle differences [ 31 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ]. Still, the knowledge of health behaviour differences in later life of parents versus non-parents is limited to the two cited studies [ 7 , 14 ].…”

Longitudinal associations between bicycling and having dependent children, in middle-aged men and women

“…Parents of children in this age group may therefore be receptive to interventions that encourage bicycling. Children may facilitate leisure-time physical activity among mid-aged parents generally ( Rattay and von der Lippe, 2020 ); recreational bicycling may be well-suited for family-oriented leisure-time physical activity.…”