Kids ‘are smarter if dads help in upbringing’

London, October 1: Dads, please note — the more time you spend with your child, the more intelligent the toddler is going to be, says a new study. Researchers in Britain have carried out the study and found that children whose fathers play an active role in their upbringing not only have higher IQs but are likely to achieve a higher social status later in life too. “The (study’s) data suggest that having a second adult involved during childhood produces benefits in terms of skills and abilities that endure throughout adult life,” said lead researcher Dr Daniel Nettle.

Dr Nettle and colleagues at Newcastle University came to the conclusion after analysing the data of the study which involved more than 11,000 British men and women, born in 1958, ‘The Daily Telegraph’ reported.

They asked the mothers of the subjects how often the father of their child took part in activities with their kids, including reading, organising outings and “quality time”.

The researchers found that those kids whose fathers spent more time with them had a higher IQ and were actually more socially mobile than those who had got little attention.
The differences were still detectable by the age of 42. In addition, the study revealed that fathers tended to pay more attention to their sons than their daughters.

“What was surprising about this research was the real sizeable difference in the progress of children who benefited from paternal interest and how 30 years later, people whose dads were involved are more upwardly mobile,” Dr Nettle said. The study has been published in the latest edition of the ‘Evolution and Human Behaviour’ journal.

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