The risk of early death is higher among single fathers when compared to single women and partnered parents.

‘Single fathers at risk of early death were found to have certain unhealthy habits such as poor diet, lack of exercise, or excessive drinking.’

"Our research highlights that single fathers have higher mortality, and demonstrates the need for public health policies to help identify and support these men," said lead author Maria Chiu, researcher at the University of Toronto in Canada. 




"We did find that single fathers tended to have unhealthier lifestyles, which could include poor diet, lack of exercise, or excessive drinking," Chiu added.
For the study, the team tracked 40,500 people across Canada over 11 years.
The subjects -- including 4,590 single moms and 871 single dads -- were, on average, in their early 40s when the study began. Nearly 700 died by the end of the monitoring period.
The team found that men parenting on their own are more likely to be separated, divorced or widowed than single mothers, a larger proportion of whom raise babies conceived outside of any relationship.
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"These results show that single fathers might be a particularly vulnerable group," said Rachel Simpson, an epidemiologist at the University of Oxford.
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"Of the world's 2.3 billion children, 14 per cent - or 320 million - are living in a single parent household," the report showed.
Source-IANS