People with several children are more likely to be in poorer physical and mental health.
- Having multiple children is associated with poorer health outcomes later in life, particularly regarding chronic illness and depression.
- A higher number of children may impact a person’s overall self-rated health in China, Estonia, France, Israel, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
- In the United States, the link between fertility and the health of older people appeared to be very weak.
“Around the world, it is generally accepted that people with large families have more resources and support to rely on as they age. Less often discussed is the fact that having many children can lead to economic, social, emotional and biological burdens that impact health, even at older ages”, said American, Polish and Italian researchers. In a recent study, they decided to examine the link between the number of children and several health indicators among the oldest generations in different regions of the world.
For their research, the scientists used data from 166,739 adults aged 50 and over from 24 middle- and high-income countries. The information was analyzed according to five health dimensions: self-assessment of health, activities of daily living (eating, washing, dressing independently), instrumental activities of daily living, depression and chronic illnesses. Then, the team made several comparisons based on the number of children.
Depression, chronic illnesses: parents with several children had worse results
The results, published in the journal The Journals of Gerontology – Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, found that adults with multiple children had poorer health outcomes later in life, particularly regarding chronic illness and depression. In detail, the risk of poorer health for parents of several children was observed in 15 countries.
However, “in some countries, having fewer children predicted poorer health.” This has been observed in China, Estonia, France, Israel, the Netherlands and Switzerland. According to the authors, this suggests that having more children may impact a person’s overall self-rated health in these countries. “The diversity of national contexts may be explained by differences in cultural values for children, by the existence of a more restricted formal infrastructure to support the elderly, or by other local conditions.”
“Children can be great, but they also present life-long stresses”
Another finding: in the United States, the link between fertility and the health of older people appeared to be very weak, so the potential health benefits/disadvantages of having more or less children were probably moderated by d other factors, such as sociocultural differences. In Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Mexico, the team noted that parents who had a larger number of children (four or more children) appeared to pose clear health risks for at least three sanitary dimensions.
“Children can be great, and having more children can increase your support when you might need it as you get older – and this could be common across the board. But children also present strains throughout life. (…) Additional research is needed to delve deeper into the role of individual and contextual mechanisms that can help provide a clearer picture of the link between family size and health later in life and the conditions that shape it “, concluded Nekehia Quashie, author of the work, in a statement.
