Younger Dads, Healthier Child?
December 15, 2008 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
There’s been studies about older parents, both fathers and mothers, being more “at risk” of having an autistic child, and especially if it’s their first-born child—-now, a study published in Oxford University’s Schizophrenia Journal is suggesting that being a younger dad means you’ll have healthier children. From today’s Science Daily:
“There is a growing body of data showing that an advanced age of parents puts their kids at risk for various illnesses,” says Dr. [Mark Weiser from Tel Aviv University’s Sackler School of Medicine]. “Some illnesses, such as schizophrenia, appear to be more common the older parents get. Doctors and psychologists are fascinated by this, but don’t really understand it. We want to know how it works.”
To explore this important question, Dr. Weiser looked at data collected by the Israeli army. Subjects included more than 450,000 male teens, aged 16 and 17. The teens were asked these questions: How many good friends do you have? Do you have a girlfriend? Do you generally prefer to be with or without a group of friends? How often do you go out on Friday evenings? Do you tend to be at the center of a party?
Controlling for the variables of IQ, mother’s age, socioeconomic status and birth order, the researchers found that the prevalence of poor social functioning increased by 50% in boys with fathers 45 years old and up.
Dr. Weiser does note that “‘many of the most dramatic effects in this study are driven by dads in their 50s’” and that “‘the difference in risk between someone who is 35 or 45 is so small that it’s irrelevant.’” So how much of a difference does parental age make, and isn’t it also necessary to consider other factors, such as genetics?
“Younger dads, healthier child?”
Please. Scientists are always leaping to conclusions.
It’s just as likely that healthy children are causing their dads to age in reverse.
Obviously.
Yes, you should see Jim and Charlie bike-riding — too much fun!
Weiser, M., Reichenberg, A., Werbeloff, N., Kleinhaus, K., Lubin, G., et. al. (2008). Advanced parental age at birth is associated with poorer social functioning in adolescent males: Shedding light on a core symptom of schizophrenia and autism. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 34(6), 1042-1046.
From abstract:
“…Results: Compared with offspring of parents aged 25–29 years, the prevalence of poor social functioning was increased both in offspring of fathers younger than 20 years (odds ratio [OR] = 1.27, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.08–1.49) and in offspring of fathers 45 years old (OR = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.43–1.61). Male adolescent children of mothers aged 40 years and above were 1.15 (95% CI = 1.07–1.24) times more likely to have poor social functioning.
Conclusions: These modest associations between parental age and poor social functioning in the general population parallel the associations between parental age and risk for schizophrenia and autism and suggest that the risk pathways between advanced parental age and schizophrenia and autism might, at least partially, include mildly deleterious effects on social functioning.”
Please note, “modest”, “association”, “suggest”, “partially”, and “mildly”.
I think this actually reinforces the genetic theory- the older the parent, the older the genetic material, and the higher the chance of a random mutation. It happens with Down Syndrome too.
I was glad that the article about the paper included two other possible interpretations. I guess it is just a pet peeve of mine, but I hate when associations are explained as if they are cause and effect.
“[Dr. Weiser says] It could be that men with poorer social skills get married later in life”
“Dr. Weiser doesn’t rule out the possibility that older fathers may have better resources for getting their boys tested for autism when symptoms arise.”
I hate these studies, no matter what the topic.
They are simply VENN diagrams. They are never scientific based, just assumptions. If they picked and chose another group of men… their study may have different results.
We could do the exact same here on this blog. Start a thread asking who was how old when our kids were born… probably have a bigger sample base… the results would be interesting.
S.
What I wonder especially about these studies is what people (not necessarily scientists) will do with them—-will there be not so subtle “warnings” about what might happen if you’re older and have a child?
I agree that people may warn, and they may also blame. I know that science is a communal process; scientists must get out their information in order to have it confirmed or refuted. I would say it isn’t like inventing which can be done more on your own. I don’t know how you stop people from misusing scientific discussion, either because they don’t understand the process or because they are using it for their own agenda.
I say, go for Younger husband, Cougar mom. At least That would be a more fun study….