For moms who single parent, you may want to look out for your health. As reported in Today.com, studies found women who single parent are at high risk for developing health problems. The findings indicated that women who raise children in a co-parenting marriage are less likely to become ill down the line. Such findings reportedly appeared in The Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
The lead researcher of the study, Lisa Berkman, stated that:
"The most important finding was that single mothers in almost all countries had poorer health as they reach older age than women who were married,"
"They have a difficult time performing . . . things like climbing up stairs, getting around, cooking."
Berkman is a Harvard Chan School of Public Health professor. She is also a Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies director.
Berkman shared her analysis on the way health problems relate to the lives of single moms. She said:
"These things take a long time to develop and what happens with single moms is it's much more likely that it's the 'drip drip drip' of daily stress that takes a toll on their health."
Sarah Maizes can very well relate to Berkman's insights. She shared:
"I never get a break,"
"It's my kids, my kids' social life, the cats, the house, and somewhere down here is me."
Maizes is a contributor for Today Parents.
Dr. Natalie Azar. An NBC medical correspondent observed that:
"The subgroup of women that seems to be the most impacted are the ones that have children before the age of 18, if they're single parents for more than eight years, if they have two or more children,"
"We know from previous research that people who are single parents can have greater risk in their lifetime of overall mortality, as well as cardiovascular disease and mental health issues."
Berkman's team of researchers discovered these astounding facts:
"While there was a minimal effect on health if single motherhood lasted less than seven years, the risk rose by nearly 80 percent among women who were single parents for 14 or more years."
The solution to minimizing health problems among single moms? Berkman shared:
"Getting remarried helps,"
"One of the most important things was the duration of being a single mom. Remarriage in our study was a protective thing."
U.S. Census Bureau revealed that over 80% of single moms in the country are members of 2014's 12 million single parent families, as reported in Singlemotherguide.com.
England and Scandinavia are the other countries where single moms are at high risk of developing poor health conditions, according to Medicaldaily.com.
