Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Today
Stay-at-Home Dads Face Greater Health Risk According to Study
Aired April 24, 2002 - 14:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Moving on to a surprising new finding from a long-running heart-health study. It's raising questions about stay-at-home dads, and how this role reversal may affect their health.
CNN medical correspondent, Rhonda Rowland now joins us with the details -- pretty interesting.
RHONDA ROWLAND, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is, and it also raises questions about women in high-powered, high-controlled jobs. Now, that couldn't be us.
PHILLIPS: You're not talking about you and me, right?
ROWLAND: No, no, definitely not us. But anyway, these findings are coming out of an American Heart Association conference in Hawaii, and what the researchers say is reversal of traditional roles may be hazardous to your health.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How old is he now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Almost six months now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, geez.
ROWLAND (voice-over): Sean Greene (ph) left his career as an architect to stay home with his two sons. Wife, Regan (ph), is an attorney.
The idea of Mr. Mom, characterized in the 1980s movie, husbands and wives switching traditional roles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go get him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are in kindergarten and you do first grade work. They will go ahead and put you with first grade...
ROWLAND: But don't make the mistake of calling these men Mr. Mom. Sean (ph) is a member of the Dad-to-Dad Playgroup of Atlanta, and they take their roles very seriously.
Massimo Marino (ph) has a daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It makes dads feel better, because they have a way to talk with other dads.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have an extra car seat?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Car seat, yes.
ROWLAND: Men who choose to exchange business cards for strollers and diaper bags may need that kind of support. Findings from a major heart study show that men who have been stay-at-home dads for at least 10 years have an 80 percent -- that's right -- 80 percent greater chance of dying than men who traditionally work outside the home.
Researchers speculate stress may be the cause of the grim statistic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since we were kids, we were raised to, you know, be the breadwinner, you know, take care of the family, you know, financially, and you know, be the macho male guy.
ROWLAND (on camera): So you weren't cultured to think that this what you are going to be doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No boy grows up thinking, you know, some day I am going to be a stay-at-home dad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are not many boys that grow up when they are in high school that go out for extra cash and say, hey, let's go baby-sit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you want to sit over here at the table? And then maybe you can get yourself a drink.
ROWLAND (voice-over): Yet, they are all doing it for the same reason: their wives' incomes are higher.
(on camera): Was it a hard decision for you guys to make, for you to stay home?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The decision was pretty easy to make. I mean, we knew we wanted to watch our kids.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to talk about that answer.
ROWLAND: So what about Sean's (ph) wife, Regan (ph), the high- demand, high-control attorney? The same study also found women like her are three times more likely to develop heart disease than women who are in low-authority jobs. Why? Researchers speculate role reversal may be behind both statistics.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROWLAND: And a researcher told us the stress of being out of step with the social norms could be what's behind putting the health at risk for these particular groups. But also another important point is this study was started in the 1980s and that's when, Kyra, house husbands, high-powered career women were really more on the cutting edge. So today, it may not have as much an impact on their health. PHILIPS: So are we supposed to start reversing the roles again?
ROWLAND: Absolutely not. The researcher was very careful in saying this does not mean that house husbands should go back to the office or that women should stay home, but instead, that society just needs to be more supportive of these roles, more accommodating. And you know, a lot of these dads told us when they go to mom playgroups, they are left out. And so those moms at those playgroups should say, hey...
PHILLIPS: Bring them in.
ROWLAND: That's right. So they don't feel so out of tough and out of step.
PHILLIPS: All right, very good. Thank you so much, Rhonda.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
