By Debjani Baidyaray
Mumbai, January 15: Parenthood can reduce blood pressure levels, especially among women, reveals a study conducted by the Brigham Young University. The study published in the
Annals of Behavioural Medicine journal, involved 198 adults with portable blood pressure monitors for 24 hours.
High blood pressure or hypertension is a problem that results due to stress. Parenthood is a stressful job, which includes caring for children and also their daily tasks, but these can also result in healthy outcomes for the parents. The blood pressure monitors registered measurements at regular intervals, even while they were sleeping. The average blood pressure readings were 116/71 for most of the parents. All other things being equal, parents scored 4.5 points lower than non-parents in systolic blood pressure (the top number) and 3 points lower than non-parents in diastolic blood pressure.
A statistical analysis allowed the researchers to account for other factors known to influence blood pressure – things like age, body mass, gender, exercise, employment and smoking – and zero in on the effect of parenthood.
Though parenthood involves lots of physical activity, it alone cannot be accounted for the lowering of blood pressure levels in people. Lifestyle changes like eating healthy food, less salt intake, controlled alcohol intake, quit smoking, better management of stress and increased physical activities can help in controlling hypertension. But changes done hastily and without an expert's guidance may lead to complications in the arteries and other body organs.
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