by Claudia Boyd-Barrett posted in Parenting

Getting dads more involved in child-rearing may be good for kids? health (in case easing mom?s stress levels wasn?t a good enough reason), a new study suggests.
Researchers examined survey and health data on almost 11,000 American families and their children born in 2001. For each daily caregiving task dads took on when their kids were between ages 2 and 4, their children had a 33 percent decreased risk of being obese by 1st grade, according to the study published in the journal Obesity.
Tasks included meal preparation, taking kids outside to play, getting kids dressed and helping with bedtime routines.

All the kids lived in two-parent households, with most dads working full-time and moms working an average of 18 hours a week. Dads and moms answered separate surveys about the child-rearing tasks each were involved in. The study wasn?t a controlled experiment and relied on dads accurately remembering what tasks they did. While it shows a correlation between hands-on dads and reduced obesity risk, it doesn?t prove that one thing causes the other or imply that single moms can't keep their kids healthy too.
The researchers speculated that having two parents involved in child-rearing may lead to better childcare overall and less pressure on moms, resulting in healthier children. Also, research shows dads are more likely than moms to engage in active play with their kids, which could help prevent obesity.

Do you think dads...