Stay childless to stay healthy, says study

The Scotsman ^ | Wednesday, 10th October 2001 | James Doherty

[sendtoscott]

Stay childless to stay healthy, says study

IF YOU hope to live a long and healthy life, then abandon all plans of marriage, forget about the trauma of childbirth and dedicate yourself to climbing the career ladder to achieve a disease-free old age.

A massive study of 15,000 middle-aged men and women, carried out in Paisley 30 years ago, has given researchers a unique opportunity to determine the factors which contribute to a productive dotage.

And the startling results reveal that women who have never married and never given birth have the best chance of good health in their later years.

For men, career success seems to be the elusive elixir necessary for sustained quality of life long after-retirement age.

The ground-breaking study, carried out by the University of Paisley, revisited some of the surviving 7,500 men and women who took part in the original research.

Professor Mary Gilhooly, director of the Centre of Gerontology and Health at the university, told The Scotsman that the two and a half year PREVAIL project was unique in the world, because most other studies of its kind did not have access to a pool of women subjects.

It was thanks only to the stubbornness of a female factory worker who demanded that women be included in the original survey that scientists today had ready access to such valuable data.

Today’s research found evidence to suggest that eliminating stress was a precursor for a healthy old age.

Professor Gilhooly said: "It seems that having and caring for children is stressful for women and lack of career progression is stressful for men.

"So low levels of chronic stress from giving birth or a poor career are damaging over a lifetime."

The study determined the factors which allowed the 100 healthiest men and women, now in their seventies or older, to live productive lives. "What is surprising is that of the 52 women we looked at 20 of them are childless, which is quite astonishing," added Prof Gilhooly.

"It appears that being unmarried and childless is the better option for women who want to stay healthy in their old age," she said.

"It’s not a happy state to have lived to 95, but to have spent 30 years in poor health.

"Giving birth is physiologically demanding, but it is also time-consuming and stressful bringing up a child, and for some of them it is very boring.

"We’ve got to remember that we’re talking about a generation who had children and then were expected to give up work."

Throughout the past 30 years, studies conducted into the Paisley Buddies, initially undertaken by researchers at Glasgow University, have given valuable insights into the prevention and treatment of heart disease and cancer.

The MIDSPAN study also examined the effects of smoking, drinking and obesity on lifespan. Describing the 52 women looked at in the new study as the "healthy elite", the professor said those who were unmarried were a far cry from the stereotype of the hard-nosed spinster.

She added: "They were not crabby old witches. If anything, they were dynamic and leading interesting lives with very strong social circles."

Asked whether the prognosis for a generation of women who juggle career and family commitments was poor, Prof Gilhooly said: "Well, it could be worse. If the common under-lying factor in our findings is stress, then it’s possible that poor health may increase for those women when they reach old age."

The professor explained that modern women could benefit from increased salaries, better homes and better diets, which could, in turn, balance out any negative impacts on health associated with child-birth and marriage.

Professor Gilhooly added that her study had thrown open some interesting results for her own future.

She admitted: "I’ve been married for 30 years and I have a son.

"I’m not childless and not unmarried, but I have had career progression, so if I was a man, my prognosis would be wonderful."

The research project concludes in March 2002.

James Doherty
Wednesday, 10th October 2001
The Scotsman

[Steve0113]

ping

[FITZ]

Other better studies have proved that married men live longer than single men, and having children is actually very healthy for women.

[Scythian]

What a bunch of hogwash, this is not true and it is well documented, however, since lefties will probably follow these instructions there will be less of them in the future, so by all means liberals, listen up

[BBT]

What a crock. Everybody knows that without children, you miss out on the greatest joy in life...grandchildren!

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

How to live to a lonely old dotage in a care facility".

Don't debunk a study because you don't like what it found. 7,500 people is a pretty big sample.

And there are plenty of people in nursing homes put there by their children and then never visited by them.

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

Let these people go without children. They'll have nobody to teach their errant ways.

I am astounded how many people on this forum would condemn the unmarried for having children and then turn around and condemn them for not having any. Which is it?

Lotta bitterness on this thread. I wonder if maybe there is an undercurrent of envy for the path not chosen among some of you.

[Ladysmith]

"Giving birth is physiologically demanding, but it is also time-consuming and stressful bringing up a child, and for some of them it is very boring.

I'll tell you what, I would bet the physiological demands of giving birth and raising children is a far-cry less than the psychological damages of having an abortion...

[Dr. Eckleburg]

"...And what do YOU think, Linda?"

[flushed with pride]

I believe you have misunderstood the sentiment expressed on this thread.

What you have here is a 'study', conducted by an institution of leftist leanings. It's good to review them critically, since such 'studies' take a few years to become accepted public policy, then becoming part of the legislative debate process, and eventually, a law. The Peoples Rebulic of China has a law restricting the reproductive rights of their own people, and there are advocates of that same policy here in the U.S. The embryonic stages of such a policy has it's underpinnings in these type of 'studies'. In other words, if the government can control you in a grater measure than they already do, they have to get your consent first. This study smacks of a worldview that is designed to manipulate people's thinking about marriage and childbearing. If those who funded the study can get you to see that 'childlessness equals long and fulfilled life', then maybe you'll accept this for yourself but more importantly, YOU'LL WANT OTHERS TO DO THE SAME, i.e., RESTRICT THE FREEDOMS OF OTHERS.

[brewcrew]

Without children, adults don't get to experience the ultimate in revenge: grandchildren.

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

Nowhere in the article does it state the political leanings of the research group. Dismissing large studies because the results make us uncomfortable is not objective nor scientific. Nor will it increase knowledge. Another study may or may not confirm the results, but for the leftists-are-out-to-exterminate-us crowd, their point of view is set in stone.

[Sirloin]

Lotta bitterness on this thread. I wonder if maybe there is an undercurrent of envy for the path not chosen among some of you.

You have hit the nail on the head. As a childfree couple, my wife and I have encountered much hostility from older, more conservative people when we mention that we don't want kids and that we're perfectly happy without them. These folks are incredulous that our lives could be complete and fulfilling without children. In fact, I think it pisses them off! LOL!

I feel sorry for people who say things like "you don't know what love is until you have children." Excuse me, but I do know what love is, thank you. I love my wife very much, and we live a faery tale life that is mostly stress free. I feel sorry for these people because it is obvious that their spouses don't give them the love and intimacy that they are craving, so they take out their bitterness on people who don't do the "normal" thing and have children.

[brewcrew]

As a childfree couple, my wife and I have encountered much hostility from older, more conservative people when we mention that we don't want kids and that we're perfectly happy without them.

But you are missing out on one of life's greatest joys: handing your grandchild back to your son or daughter and saying, "He's your kid - deal with it." Bwa-Hahahahahahahah

[ConsistentLibertarian]

Bump.

[Storm Orphan]

Lotta bitterness on this thread. I wonder if maybe there is an undercurrent of envy for the path not chosen among some of you.

Ding ding ding. We have a winner.

Mrs. Storm Orphan and I may decide to have kids, we may not.

Right now we're quite happy without, but some of our procreating associates display the strangest
sense of bitterness that we haven't bred yet.

Maybe misery loves company.

[flushed with pride]

'Nowhere' does it state the political leanings of the group who sponsored the study? It doesn't have to. Read the article again slowly and carefully. It is heavy laden with statements and phrases from both the author and subject that are anything but 'objective', revealing the prejudices of those behind the study. This is a policy statement of leftist academics and journalists thinly disguised as a 'scientific study'. The objective here is to initiate a policy (ultimately becoming law) in western Europe and North America similar to the law in China.

To clarify my own position on marriage and childbearing: I feel that people should be free to make their own decisions, as long as those decisions don't cause harm to others, like aborting a child because you weren't smart enough to take measures against a unwanted pregnancy. Any one should be free to be single, to marry, to bear children or not to bear children without government interfering. If some rude individuals want to make a person feel bad for deciding against having kids, then I say AVOID the compamy of those people, but don't expect me to support passing a law against bad manners.

[MissAmericanPie]

Maybe both do end up in nursing homes, but the ones that have kids are there for a much shorter length of time. *G*

[Harrison Bergeron]

"Lotta bitterness on this thread."

You've obviously never experienced the cold stares and rude comments of the childless career women when a happy looking couple walk into a restaurant with a beautiful, well behaved one year old. The most typical comment is "I'm glad I don't have to depend on a man," the other is "How can people be so selfish to bring a child into the world im this day and age." More common still, is the sadness you see in many women's eyes when they look upon a baby knowing they'll die childless. At least twice, we've sat next to a woman in tears at the sight of a mother and child - her husband looking on helplessly. That last experience I can relate to thoroughly, as it took us 13 years to conceive, and we were finally taken by a beautiful surprise.

As does most socialist commentary, the article completely ignores the human factor. As such, it's pretty much crap.