BellaOnline Forums Relationships Married No Kids WTH: Advice to have kids for your longevity??

That sort of statistic must be right up there with "100% of people who have ever eaten carrots will die". Or perhaps, it's just that if you have kids when you're forty, you spend most of your life afterwards feeling like you're 100!!

Email the author and ask him for his source. I call BS ...

Natch, Llyn - I'd rather live to be 99 with no kids than live to 100 with 'em...

Maybe you'd live to 100 after having kids, but you'd still be working because your retirement savings would have been spent on said kids! LOL!

Cindy

Exactly, Duane!

I've read this before too but in a different context. What I read said that if you can naturally have kids after the age of 40 your body is probably strong enough to live to be 100. It doesn't have anything to do with actually having kids that makes you live longer. It's that if you naturally can at that age this probably means you are probably healthy enough to live longer than average.

I think this is a load of [censored]. I have heard many times over...that having children can cause a host of problems for women.

My friend, who does not have kids & is 34yrs., was at her ballet class (a lot of women take ballet around here) and was talking to some of the others and they thought she was like 25yrs. when she told them how old she was their first response was "YOU MUST NOT HAVE KIDS"!

I was a little behind in my reading and actually just read that this evening. I agree -- what is that all about???

I wish I could put my finger on it, but I *thought* there was a study that said that people who don't have kids live longer, because we don't have the added stress of parenting, money issues, plus a stronger marriage, etc.

If anyone has seen a study like that, please let me know. I could swear it was within the past year or so.

But then again, it is getting late and I am tired and I may be inventing the whole thing!

It does seem to me that having children would actually be more draining on your health -- but I guess you can have a study that proves just about anything!!

Kim

Kim Kenney
MNK Editor

I think its fairly clear that CF people are more youthful - you should meet my 72 year old CF BIL! While his friends were raising kids, working hard to cover private school fees & university fees - he has been flying light planes, sailing, golfing, playing tennis and travelling - he was an airline pilot and retired in his late 50s.
He's excited about life and always planning his next adventure.
At a recent school reunion he looked 20 years younger than his classmates...

Even though I strongly suspect the article is inaccurate, I'd still take quality of life over quantity any time.

No kidding bassgrrl, especially since I KNOW I read a study that said parents are more depressed than those who aren't. Who wants to live decades of depression? I know I've tasted that drink and it's nasty.

Here goes-

a. If a woman successfully breeds after 40 she is probably in good health.

b. Chances are she is going to get more exercise now that she has to care for a kid and won't be able to slip into a sedentary lifestyle like so many folks do as they age.

c. Men who ACCEPT THE RESPONSIBILITY of raising a family at a young age are more likely to be responsible in other ways. They probably also engage in activities such as: flossing, eating their veggies, saving their money, and carrying health insurance - things that actually DO contribute to longer lifespan.

SO It seems to me that the doc would have done better to have said get more exercise, take care of your health and act like a responsible grown-up.

Incidentally, as a fence sitter, I must note that one of the few pro-sprog arguments I've been able to come up with is that I might lose some weight chasing after the little beast