What did the dad say when his golden retriever was caught eating a hot dog? “It’s a dog eat dog world out there.”
We don’t know why dads do the things they do, including telling silly dad jokes. There has been an increasing amount of scientific literature exploring the why, the effects and how to support them. Research is extensive in maternal-child health, from conception on. The father’s role in physical and mental health has changed drastically since Wally and the Beaver grew up. Pediatricians, child development experts and public health experts have taken the initiative to research this important role in hopes of providing needed services to support the health of fathers. This in turn strengthens the health and well-being of the family. The American Academy of Pediatrics has promoted actions by pediatricians to engage fathers in pediatric care.
Fathers influence their child in many ways. When addressing the role of the father, it may not be the biological father. It may be a foster father, non-resident father, adoptive father, uncle, grandfather, stepfather or coparent of any kind. The behaviors children pick up from a male role model can influence health as strongly as genetics.
Studies have shown that involvement of the father during prenatal care affects pregnancy outcome by improving prenatal care and less smoking. Women with supportive partners have fewer health problems in pregnancy. It has been shown that the way fathers play with their babies is different than mothers, and influences their development. As children get a little older, a father engaging in healthy behaviors provides a role model. Children may not immediately choose healthy eating habits or other behaviors per se, but they know and may incorporate that knowledge at some point. Their attitude and behavior involving cursing, cellphone use, drugs and alcohol use, respect and kindness towards others and work ethic are absorbed and recorded in a child’s mind.
Another study showed decreased levels of stress-related hormones in children along, with increased memory test scores, when the father was involved in care from infancy. Researchers have studied the role of fathers when the mother is suffering from postpartum depression. They have found a strong child-father relationship “can be enormously adaptive and protective for the child.” Research also shows that a healthy marriage, supportive coparenting in divorce or other situations strongly affects a child’s physical and mental health. Public health and pediatric clinicians can support parents with the help of government policies geared toward raising healthy children.
Craig Garfield, M.D., a professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University and a father, is dedicated to addressing and supporting the role of fathers in child and family health. His own experience as a stay-at-home dad led him to this purpose.
“Fatherhood presents an opportunity for men to improve their own health, and healthy fathers are more likely to participate in childrearing, support mothers in parenting, and have healthy children,” he said.
He launched a program that conducts research, identifies relevant findings and advocates for improvement in family health policy in Chicago. Massachusetts has partnered with this team to conduct the Massachusetts Parenthood and Fatherhood Experiences survey to ask fathers about their transition to fatherhood and their emotional and physical health. The goal is to improve the lives of families and new parents in the commonwealth by developing new and supporting existing programs within the Department of Public Health and community partners.
Today’s father needs that support as he has far more expectations of him than Ward Cleaver returning to a perfectly tidy home with a hot supper served by June and then retiring to the couch to read the newspaper. Other than delivering moral lectures to Wally and the Beaver, Ward was at work.
Children need more than a daily moral lecture. Two studies both concluded that “children with involved, loving fathers are significantly more likely to do well in school, have healthy self-esteem and exhibit empathy and pro-social behavior, compared to children who have uninvolved fathers. Additionally, more engaged fathers — whether living with or apart from their children — can help foster a child’s healthy physical, emotional and social development.” These findings speak volumes to the importance of a father’s role in their children’s lives.
On Father’s Day, a dad’s most treasured gift may be the homemade card of a stick figure family. The most valuable gift we as a society can give a father is the support and tools to be the best dad possible to that little artist.
What do lobsters do on Father’s Day? Shellabrate their dads.
“Happy Father’s Day to all the dads, the not-yet-dads, the stepdads, the moms who are dad, the adoptive dads, the grandads, and the dads who are no longer with us.” — unknown
(And the dads who have lost a child, the untitled role models, uncles, friends and all the deserving father figures.)
Take care of yourself and someone else.
Juanita Carnes is a Westfield resident and a nurse practitioner with 38 years of experience in a hospital emergency department and urgent care facilities. She served 30 years on the Westfield Board of Health.
