Study: As fathers protect children, fatherhood protects dads

Becoming a father seems to make a man less likely to die young. What’s more, when a father passes away within the first five years of his child’s life, the cause is usually non-natural and thus preventable. 

That’s according to researchers who analyzed data from one state—Georgia—and conclude paternal mortality is more than a male health issue.

Indeed, they report in JAMA Pediatrics, it is also a “family and public health crisis.”

Lead author Craig Garfield, MD, senior author John Carter, PhD, and colleagues pulled data on more than 130,000 births recorded in the Peach State in 2017. Most of these, 88%, listed a father on the birth certificate.

Upon matching birth certificates to death certificates, the team identified 796 fathers who died before their child’s sixth birthday. 

Of these, 296 (37.2%) were from natural causes and 480 (60.3%) were from preventable causes. These included 143 homicides, 142 accidents, 102 suicides and 93 drug overdoses. 

The mortalities were more likely than five-year surviving fathers to be older, non-Hispanic Black, rural, unmarried and insured by Medicaid.

By contrast, surviving fathers were more likely to have Hispanic ethnicity, a higher educational level and military health coverage.

Other findings of interest:

• Among deceased fathers, non-natural causes of death were more common at younger ages.
   
• Higher educational level was associated with lower risk of unintentional death and homicide. 
   
• Non-Hispanic Black fathers had higher odds of homicide but lower odds of drug overdose and suicide.
   
• Hispanic fathers had lower odds of homicide, drug overdose and suicide. 
   
• Medicaid insurance and unmarried status were associated with increased odds of homicide.

Loss of Dad a traumatic turning point 

In their discussion section, Garfield and co-authors comment that maternal mortality review committees (MMRCs) provide “necessary systematic infrastructure” for tracking trends among mothers, yet no equivalent system exists to track paternal health.

This is so despite the loss of a father during childhood constituting an adverse childhood experience, the authors note. 

“Integrating fathers into existing MMRC processes could yield more comprehensive understanding of family health dynamics and needs,” they write.

The authors acknowledge among their study’s design shortcomings the concentration on a single U.S. state as well as the exclusion of fathers who died after leaving Georgia. 

Nevertheless, they remark, the findings “help in establishing paternal mortality during early childhood as a quantifiable, patterned and potentially preventable phenomenon affecting thousands of U.S. families.”

Fatherhood tends to protect fathers 

In coverage of the study by Northwestern’s news operation, Garfield underscores the finding that, overall, being a father correlated with lower death rates among all men in Georgia between 2017 and 2022.

After age 20, he notes, the death rate for fathers is consistently lower compared to men who are not fathers. 

Being a father appears to be “protective in this particular group of men,” Garfield says. 

“We were surprised to see reduced mortality among men who are fathers,” Garfield adds. “Whether that is due to changes in lifestyle or a new purpose or new roles and responsibilities, we don’t know, but it is certainly worth further study.”

Garfield also points out the death of any parent has “enormous consequences” in the life of a child.

“As a pediatrician,” he says, “I care most about how a parent’s death impacts the child, especially in the early years.”

Study posted here, Northwestern coverage here.