An American study has found that couples with children have lower blood pressure then childless couples.

The counter-intuitive results were explained as resulting from the sense of meaning  parents derived from their children. The study controlled for factors such as health, age and weight.

Lead author of the study Dr Julianne Hold-Lunstad explained how the results support previous studies. “While caring for children may include daily hassles, deriving a sense of meaning and purpose from life’s stress has been shown to be associated with better health outcomes,” she said.

“This doesn’t mean the more kids you have, the better your blood pressure. The findings are simply tied to parenthood, no matter the number of children or employment status.”

From Annals of Behavioural Medicine.

Writer Tristan Boyd, Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.