Having children could be the secret to a longer life.
A team from the University of Michigan have conducted a review of the genetic and health information of 276,000 people in the UK and have discovered that having children is associated with a higher chance of living into old age.
They discovered that having two kids was the most beneficial for an increased lifespan, with fewer or more children lowering the prospects of living to the age of 76.
Study co-author Professor Jianzhi Zheng said: “One thing that is relatively clear is that having children is more beneficial to longevity than not having children at all.
“What we measured is the probability of living to the age of 76. Those with children have a 5-10 percentage point advantage over those without children.
“Interestingly, we found that having two kids corresponds to the longest lifespan. Having fewer, or more, kids both lower the lifespan.”
