Black men have higher rates of hypertension than men of other ethnic groups, but what does being raised in a single-parent home have to do with this fact?
Research from a long-term Howard University Family Study reveals that black men raised in single-parent households could have higher blood pressure as adults than those who grew up in two-parent homes.
The study, which examined data from 515 men participating in the HUFS and the first of its kind to link the living arrangements of children to adult pressure in black men, found:
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Men who lived with both parents during one or more years of their childhoods had 4.4 mm Hg lower systolic (top number) blood pressure than those raised entirely in single-parent homes.
Black children who live with their mothers alone are three times more likely to be poor, and those who live with fathers or a non-parent are twice as likely to be poor.
A critical period during childhood (ages 1 to 12) and a potential mechanism through which the early life socio-familial factor operates may influence adult blood pressure.
This is the first study to link childhood family living arrangements with blood pressure in black men in the United States, who tend to have higher rates of high blood pressure than American men of other races. The findings suggest that programs to promote family stability during childhood might have a long-lasting effect on the risk of high blood pressure in these men.
Although the study found an association between a single-parent upbringing and a higher risk for high blood pressure, it did not prove a cause-and-effect link.
The Surprising Health Risk For Black Men Raised By Single Parents
was originally published on
blackdoctor.org
