23 Nov 2006

Mom's health tied to child

Mothers who take care of children with disabilities or chronic health problems are more likely to report poor health than mothers of healthy children, says a Canadian study.

Researchers looked at the parents of children ages 6 to 15 and found that 11 percent of mothers caring for a chronically sick/disabled child said they were in poor or fair health, compared with just over 5 percent of mothers of healthy children, CBC News reported.

However, no differences were noted among fathers in the study.

"We think that it might be the nature of the responsibilities that the mother has that's stressful for her and leads to lower health," study lead author Shelly Phipps, an economics professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, told CBC News.

The findings suggest that more needs to be done to provide support to parents, especially mothers, who take care of sick/disabled children. This would benefit both the parents and the children. – (HealthDayNews)