Babies who look like their dads, likely to be healthier – study

Babies who resemble their dad at birth are likely to be healthier when they turn one says a new study.

The study says if the child looks like its dad, then the father will more than likely spend more time with it.

The study, published in the Journal of Health Economics, looked at 715 families in which babies lived with their mother. Babies who resembled their fathers were found to be healthier one year later, and the researchers believe this is because these fathers spent an average 2.5 more days per month with their child than fathers who didn’t resemble their offspring as much.

For some reason extra dad care meant less asthma attacks and visits to the hospital.

Solomon Polachek, economics professor at Binghamton University and co-author of the study:

The main explanation is that frequent father visits allow for greater parental time for care-giving and supervision, and for information gathering about child health and economic needs. It’s been said that ‘it takes a village’ but my coauthor, Marlon Tracey, and I find that having an involved father certainly helps.