Study reveals having kids makes women biologically older

By Isobel Williams via SWNS

Having kids ages women and the more children you have, the older you become, a new study reveals.

Researchers found that each pregnancy added two months to a young woman's biological age but had no effect on men.

However, the results of the study on 1,735 young people in the Philippines can only be said to apply to young women who are still growing when they become pregnant.

It is thought women stop growing between the ages of 18 and 25.

The team from the Columbia Aging Center in New York, used ‘epigenetic clocks’ to study biological aging in the women.

This tool works by using DNA methylation-- a chemical reaction in the body where a small molecule gets added to the DNA-- to calculate biological aging.

They found that each additional pregnancy during early adulthood sped up the aging process by over two months.

In men, fathering children wasn’t seen to have any impact on their aging, which suggests it is caused by pregnancy or breastfeeding.

The study, published in The Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences confirmed that women who reported having been pregnant looked biologically older than women who had never been pregnant.

Lead author Dr. Calen Ryan said: “Epigenetic clocks have revolutionized how we study biological aging across the life course and open up new opportunities to study how and when long-term health costs of reproduction and other life events take hold.

“Our findings suggest that pregnancy speeds up biological aging, and that these effects are apparent in young, high-fertility women.

“Our results are also the first to follow the same women through time, linking changes in each woman’s pregnancy number to changes in her biological age.”

The researchers caution that these findings could be only applicable to women who are still growing when they become pregnant, and more research needs to be done on the subject to confirm their results.

Dr. Ryan added: “Many of the reported pregnancies in our baseline measure occurred during late adolescence, when women are still growing.

“We expect this kind of pregnancy to be particularly challenging for a growing mother, especially if her access to healthcare, resources, or other forms of support is limited.

“We still have a lot to learn about the role of pregnancy and other aspects of reproduction in the aging process.

“Ultimately, I think our findings highlight the potential long-term impacts of pregnancy on women’s health, and the importance of taking care of new parents, especially young mothers.”