The transition to parenthood as a critical window for adult health.

Abstract

Becoming a parent is a transformative experience, marked by hormonal changes and neuroplasticity as well as shifts in self-concept, social roles, and daily routines. Although the arrival of a new baby is often a joyful event, the postpartum period can also be a time of heightened psychosocial stress and health behavior changes, including significant sleep disruption and decreased physical activity. Markers of allostatic load, such as physiological stress and inflammation, may also become dysregulated during this time. Given these neurobiological, psychosocial, and behavioral changes, the transition to parenthood may shape health trajectories in midlife. For many mothers and fathers, the transition to parenthood represents an inflection point for obesity, such that perinatal weight gains are retained long-term. Similarly, many individuals experience their 1st episode of major depression during the postpartum period. In sum, the transition to parenthood may represent a critical window for determining both mental and physical health in midlife and beyond. Physical and mental health problems over the transition to parenthood may be exacerbated for parents without access to protected, paid time off from employment. Known disparities in mood disorders, obesity, and allostatic load may be linked to risk factors stemming from the perinatal period. This article relates the importance of the transition to parenthood to population health and discusses parental leave policy as an example of an initiative that can support parents and relieve stress during the perinatal period.

Becoming a parent: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of changes in BMI, diet, and physical activity

“…49,50 We focused on life events during young adulthood as it is a critical window for adult health, where life events may amplify changes in health and behaviour linked to developing social roles. 20 Many life events occur in young adulthood, such as leaving school, starting higher education or work, and cohabitation and/or marriage, but it is uncertain which may have the greatest impact on health and behaviour. Parenthood was shown to have a larger effect on weight gain than partnership status among Australian women, 48 and physical activity has been shown to differ by parental status but not marriage status.…”

“…16,17 For both men and women, becoming a parent is marked by major changes in social roles which co-occur with physiological (eg, inflammatory function), psychological (eg, stress), and behavioural changes (eg, lack of sleep). [18][19][20] While the onset of parenthood is often accompanied by joy, it is tempered with heightened stress and potentially harmful changes in behaviour including poor diet, low physical activity, and sleep deprivation. [20][21][22][23] These major changes mean that becoming a parent can have a long-lasting impact in shaping health trajectories into midlife.…”

“…[18][19][20] While the onset of parenthood is often accompanied by joy, it is tempered with heightened stress and potentially harmful changes in behaviour including poor diet, low physical activity, and sleep deprivation. [20][21][22][23] These major changes mean that becoming a parent can have a long-lasting impact in shaping health trajectories into midlife. 24 For both mothers and fathers, the transition to parenthood has been suggested as a turning point for obesity with weight gains maintained long term.…”

“…24 For both mothers and fathers, the transition to parenthood has been suggested as a turning point for obesity with weight gains maintained long term. 12,14 Relatively few studies have examined the impact of parenthood on behaviours beyond sleep, 20,21 with limited evidence summarizing change in physical activity and diet over the transition to parenthood. 25 Due to population level weight gain in young adulthood, 5 and diet and physical activity being the main behavioural antecedents of obesity, we aimed to systematically review the published longitudinal observational literature to meta-analyse evidence describing how BMI, physical activity, and diet change during young adulthood when becoming a parent compared with remaining without children (for both men and women).…”

“…We incorporated a broad definition of young adulthood (15 to 35 y) as it represents a critical window for adult health, with marked changes in health and behaviour linked to developing social roles, which may also provide specific opportunities for intervention. 20…”