Older Dads and Their Kids' IQs
Everyone has heard about women's biological clock. But do men have one, too?
Well, men don't go through menopause like women do, and most remain fertile throughout their lives. But there is a growing body of evidence that children born to older fathers may be at increased risk for certain health problems. Now, a new study suggests they may also be at risk for lower IQs.
John McGrath of the University of Queensland in Australia and his colleagues analyzed data that had been collected on 33,437 children born in the United States between 1959 and 1965. Each child was tested at 8 months, four years and seven years of age with a variety of tests to measure intelligence and other cognitive abilities, such as hand-eye coordination and reading, spelling and math skills.
After adjusting for other factors that can affect how well kids score on such tests, such as their socioeconomic status, the researchers analyzed the data to see if the age of the father affected the results. The researchers found that the older the father the lower the child scored on all the tests except for one that measured physical coordination.
In contrast, the older the mother the better the children tended to score, the researchers reported this week in the journal PLoS Medicine. That is consistent with previous studies, which found that while older mothers are more likely to have problem pregnancies their children do tend to score higher on such tests. Researchers have speculated that may be because older mothers tend to have higher incomes and education, enabling them to offer a more nurturing environment at home. The new study suggests that doesn't hold for older fathers.
It remains unclear why these older fathers would have children more prone to these problems. But the researchers note that a man's sperm may be more prone to genetic defects as he ages. Previous studies have found evidence suggesting that children born to older fathers may also be at increased risk for a variety of disorders, including schizophrenia, autism, bipolar disorder and dyslexia.
But the researchers say more studies are needed to confirm the findings and explore what the causes might be.
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