Newborn babies with faces like their fathers are healthier
Studies show that babies who resemble their fathers more in facial features tend to be healthier.
A father's care is best, especially for the health of babies. A study found that babies born to single mothers who had facial features similar to their fathers were healthier after a year.
A child who resembles his father will often spend more time playing with him, which is a factor that improves the child's happiness.
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| The more babies resemble their fathers, the more attention they receive from their fathers. Photo: AGrigorjeva, Getty Images |
The study, “If Caregiving Can Change Child Health and Parental Well-Being,” published in the Journal of Health Economics, followed 715 mothers and fathers who did not live together. The single parents were interviewed shortly after their child’s birth and again more than a year later. The results, published in January, included information on the frequency of asthma attacks and the number and duration of clinic visits.
“Fathers play a very important role in raising children and it manifests itself in the health of the children,” said Solomon Polachek, a professor at Binghamton University (New York, USA) and one of the authors of the study.
Another analysis from Polachek and Marlon Tracey of Southern Illinois University found that single fathers spend an average of 2.5 more days per month with their children than with children who are not like them.
“People say it takes a lot of work to raise a child,” but Polachek concludes that “it really… just takes a father to help.”
