{"id":408,"date":"2026-04-22T05:04:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T03:04:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/english\/la-progeniture-et-lesperance-de-vie-des-femmes-quen-dit-la-recherche\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T05:04:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T03:04:53","slug":"la-progeniture-et-lesperance-de-vie-des-femmes-quen-dit-la-recherche","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/english\/la-progeniture-et-lesperance-de-vie-des-femmes-quen-dit-la-recherche\/","title":{"rendered":"Offspring and female life expectancy. What does the research say?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-86998 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/sante-femme.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"814\" height=\"540\" srcset=\"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/sante-femme.jpg 814w, https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/sante-femme-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/sante-femme-768x509.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 814px) 100vw, 814px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Biological aging in women is a complex phenomenon manifested by various physical and functional changes. Among the main characteristics is bone fragility, which accelerates after menopause due to the drop in estrogen production. This loss of bone density can lead to fractures, and menopausal treatment is essential to address this risk.<\/p>\n<p>The hormonal changes and mobilization of the immune system linked to pregnancy also contribute to wear and tear on the body. Women who have borne a child show an acceleration in biological age, with an increase of 0.2 to 0.5 years for each additional child.<\/p>\n<p>However, the number of children could leave a measurable imprint on the aging of the body. A study carried out on thousands of women explores the link between reproduction, longevity and biological aging. The results reveal an unexpected balance between motherhood and long-term health.<\/p><div id=\"linit-3585225445\" class=\"linit-dans-le-contenu linit-entity-placement\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-8992136571741975\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8992136571741975\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"1055921646\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>For a long time, scientists have been interested in the impact of\u00a0motherhood\u00a0on women&rsquo;s health, because having children was often associated with psychological and social benefits, but also with significant physical constraints. Repeated pregnancies, fatigue, stress or even hormonal changes: all factors likely to influence aging. Until now, the results of studies remained contradictory, some suggesting a protective effect, others an increased risk of disease.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, the number of children could influence the way in which the body ages over the years. Reproduction mobilizes numerous biological resources. It stimulates energy and metabolism. It also mobilizes several cellular repair mechanisms. Researchers have long tried to understand these effects on longevity.<\/p>\n<p>Given that the life expectancy of women is influenced by many factors including lifestyle, genetics, access to care, on this subject, a recent study suggests that life expectancy leaves a measurable imprint on biological aging and, by extension, on longevity, in relation to the number of children born. Behind this hypothesis, data from thousands of women reveal a subtle balance between reproduction, health and lifespan.<\/p>\n<p>There is indeed an unexpected link between children and aging. Using a large cohort, researchers are trying to understand how reproduction influences biological mechanisms linked to age.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers compared life expectancy according to the number of children, taking into account other variables such as socio-economic level or initial state of health. Result: women who have had a moderate number of children have a slightly higher life expectancy than those without children or those who have had very large families.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe ideal number of children for longevity seems to be around two or three.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Concretely, these results mean that a woman who has had one or two children could, on average, benefit from an advantage in terms of longevity compared to other profiles. This could be explained by a better balance between social stimulation, family support and physical constraints. Conversely, the absence of children or a very high number could be associated with specific risks, whether linked to isolation or exhaustion.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, motherhood causes profound biological changes. Hormonal variations, particularly during pregnancy, could have protective effects on certain diseases, such as hormone-dependent cancers (the main hormone-dependent cancers are breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in men). Furthermore, having children often promotes healthier behaviors: regular medical follow-up, reduction of certain risky behaviors, or even better social integration. However, multiple pregnancies can also increase cardiovascular or metabolic risks.<\/p>\n<p>In reality, the number of children is only one element among others in the trajectory of women&rsquo;s health. The researchers emphasize a crucial point: it is a statistical correlation, which calls for caution in interpretation. Furthermore, several factors can bias the results. Some childless women may have pre-existing health conditions, which could impact both their fertility and life expectancy.<\/p>\n<p>Likewise, social conditions, cultural contexts, the environment and even lifestyle habits play a determining role in aging.<\/p>\n<p>You should know that pregnancy changes hormones, which could reduce the risk of certain cancers. However, it can also increase other risks, particularly cardiovascular risks if there are numerous pregnancies. And also, many childless women can live a long time. Life expectancy depends mainly on factors such as diet, physical activity, stress and access to care.<\/p>\n<p>Mohand Lyazid Chibout (Iris)<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"screen-reader-text\">Article navigation<\/h2>\n<div id=\"linit-969747664\" class=\"linit-apres-contenu linit-entity-placement\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-8992136571741975\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8992136571741975\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"1055921646\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Biological aging in women is a complex phenomenon manifested by various physical and functional changes. Among the main characteristics is bone fragility, which accelerates after menopause due to the drop in estrogen production. This loss of bone density can lead to fractures, and menopausal treatment is essential to address this risk. The hormonal changes and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":409,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/sante-femme.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"La prog\u00e9niture et l\u2019esp\u00e9rance de vie des femmes. Qu\u2019en dit la recherche ?","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sante"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}