tag:theconversation.com,2011:/es/topics/young-fathers-13265/articlesYoung Fathers – The Conversation2024-01-31T12:02:04Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2205552024-01-31T12:02:04Z2024-01-31T12:02:04ZYoung dads are painted as feckless or absent – but they’re working to change perceptions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571500/original/file-20240125-19-svrgu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=38%2C23%2C4414%2C3385&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">shutterstock</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-caucasian-bearded-father-carrying-newborn-1718826880">Anna Kraynova/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For young dads – those aged 25 or younger – sharing the news of their fatherhood may be more likely to bring raised eyebrows than congratulations. </p>
<p>Young dads are <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-020-01172-8">often portrayed</a> as irresponsible, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-myth-of-the-fatherless-society-73166">absent</a> or as “deadbeat dads”. <a href="https://fyff.co.uk/files/9ab001a7fa237900e5ddfead9e654f16aa2babf2.pdf">But our research</a> has found that even when pregnancies are unplanned, the children of young fathers are far from unwanted. </p>
<p>Becoming a father for the first time can be a <a href="https://followingfathers.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/79/2015/10/Brieifing-Paper-1-web.pdf">transformative experience</a>, but young dads don’t always get the support they need to be the fathers they want to be for their children. </p>
<p>This is a problem because we know that positively involved and engaged fathers <a href="https://www.irp.wisc.edu/links-between-involved-fathers-and-positive-effects-on-children/">have a positive influence</a> on their children’s longer-term social, emotional and educational development. There can also be progress for gender equality when women and men can co-parent effectively together. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://followingyoungfathersfurther.org/">research</a> has involved talking to and working with young dads to explore how they can be better supported. We have found that they want to be included in the support offered to their partners and that they <a href="https://fyff.co.uk/files/efecbf9ed5d6526e209ba6af988649530945dc69.pdf">value supportive relationships</a> with health and other professionals that are free of judgement and based on care, compassion and understanding.</p>
<h2>Trying to be involved</h2>
<p>Effective support is so important because of some of the disadvantages young dads experience. Being an involved dad can be more straightforward for fathers who have supportive family networks, adequate housing and secure routes to education and employment, as well as access to effective service support. </p>
<p>Yet, we know that young dads, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, often struggle to secure <a href="https://fyff.co.uk/files/cc95d4cb23e13a41df9e14c3d098b945613a6991.pdf">stable employment</a>, making it harder to provide economically for their children. If they are on zero-hour contracts or are self-employed they are less able to budget and plan, and they are not entitled to parental leave. </p>
<p>Social security payments are lower for those aged under 25, meaning young dads claiming universal credit are <a href="https://fyff.co.uk/files/16b25d4a6b11fbcc9e5e836f15a0a409dd3566ab.pdf">penalised for their age</a>. Access to secure housing is also difficult for young fathers, especially when they can’t rely on their parents or if they don’t live with their children. Sustaining positive relationships with the mothers of their children, their co-parents, can require living nearby, but housing options may be scarce. </p>
<p>The hurdles young fathers need to overcome often overshadow their strengths and capabilities as parents and their intentions to “be there” for their children as engaged dads. This can lead to issues with <a href="https://fyff.co.uk/files/832041e26557d03238246595eb4ef6350dc92e05.pdf">mental health</a> that either go unnoticed or can lead to challenging behaviour. </p>
<p>Another issue is that services that provide support with parenting, relationships and employment for young fathers are <a href="https://followingfathers.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/79/2016/06/Evidence-Report.pdf">few and far</a> between. </p>
<p>Mainstream health services also struggle to include young dads. Dads tell us they want to be included in support, but that this is predominantly aimed at mothers. Additionally, there are few resources for professionals to help them support dads or be more <a href="https://fyff.co.uk/files/efecbf9ed5d6526e209ba6af988649530945dc69.pdf">father-inclusive</a>.</p>
<p>Since January 2020, we have been working on the <a href="https://followingyoungfathersfurther.org/">Following Young Fathers Further</a> study, which aims to remedy this lack of support in a way that is led by young dads themselves. </p>
<h2>Collective support</h2>
<p>We have been working together with dads and professionals who provide specialist support to create resources that are designed to increase and improve support for all dads, but young dads especially. These include two new Young Dads Collectives – groups that bring young dads together with professionals from health, social care, education and beyond – <a href="https://followingfathers.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/79/2017/04/SYD-final-report.pdf">in Leeds</a> <a href="https://fyff.co.uk/files/1601d72e665f056bdd7f24d46bc3608d857a0c8d.pdf">and Grimsby</a>. </p>
<p>Young dads provide education and training for these professionals, sharing their experiences about being a dad and how services have treated them. The young dads have the chance to challenge the stereotypical views that may be held about them. Professionals are also asked to consider how to include dads in their support offers and why this is so important for mothers and children as well. One <a href="https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journals/frs/aop/article-10.1332-204674321X16913136250482/article-10.1332-204674321X16913136250482.xml">father involved</a> in the Young Dads Collectives said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Buzzing, love being listened to. It’s not just the work with the professionals, it’s about meeting up with other dads when we do the planning. We all want other dads to have a better experience.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Since 2022, we have also been working on an e-learning platform called <a href="https://www.digidad.uk/">DigiDAD</a>, set up with young dads and professionals from a specialist support charity for young fathers in Gateshead called the <a href="https://www.neydl.uk/">North East Young Dads and Lads</a>. </p>
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<p>DigiDAD features videos, courses, podcasts and other learning content presented or voiced by young dads. Checked by researchers and other experts for accuracy, the content focuses on parenting skills, managing social care proceedings, dealing with mental health difficulties and relationship skills. </p>
<p>Like the Collectives, DigiDAD gives young dads a place to talk openly about shared challenges and to educate wider audiences about the value of supporting dads. </p>
<p>At the time of writing, DigiDAD content has been watched by <a href="https://www.neydl.uk/2023_annual_report/2/">over 30,000</a> YouTube viewers and accessed as far afield as Peru. </p>
<p>Our research work is proof that young dads themselves are working to change the narrative about young fatherhood. They are active in addressing the negative ideas and stereotypes that so often contribute to the stigma they both experience and internalise. And they are educating health professionals in order to reduce this stigma.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220555/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Professor Anna Tarrant receives funding from the UK Research & Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship scheme. She is the Chair of Trustees for the North East Young Dads and Lads. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Linzi Ladlow consults for the North East Young Dads and Lads.</span></em></p>Dads tell us they want to be included in support, but that this is predominantly aimed at mothers.Anna Tarrant, Professor of Sociology, University of LincolnLinzi Ladlow, Research Fellow in Family Research, University of LincolnLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1001502018-08-09T10:40:34Z2018-08-09T10:40:34ZHow new fathers use social media to make sense of their roles<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230965/original/file-20180807-191044-1whaseo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What dads do online helps them navigate gender roles as society changes.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/father-on-laptop-holds-newborn-son-627677957">Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/los-padres-primerizos-usan-las-redes-sociales-para-entender-su-nuevo-papel-101349">Leer en español</a></em>.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://twitter.com/LADadsGroup/status/1006013346636861441">lawyer in Bermuda became internet-famous</a> for <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/dad-daughter-ballet-dance-video-stage-bermuda-marc-daniels-a8389806.html">dancing ballet alongside his two-year-old daughter</a>, comforting her stage fright by being there and doing the dance moves right with her. He knew the part because he had practiced ballet with his children before – and said it was just a <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/dad-daughter-ballet-dance-video-stage-bermuda-marc-daniels-a8389806.html">normal part of fathering daughters</a>.</p>
<p>That isn’t a common sentiment about fatherhood, even now. But <a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2014/06/05/growing-number-of-dads-home-with-the-kids/">social norms have been changing</a> <a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2014/06/05/growing-number-of-dads-home-with-the-kids/">over the past 40 years</a>, as more women – and mothers – have entered the workforce. While mothers still do more work at home, <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/06/13/fathers-day-facts/">the burden is becoming more equal</a>. However, the concept of father-as-breadwinner is still stronger than ideals of fathers as nurturers. As a result, fathers often <a href="https://melmagazine.com/for-stay-at-home-dads-the-playground-is-as-clique-y-as-high-school-7e29271c2858">find themselves out of place</a> at parks, malls and other areas frequented by mothers and children. The same problem happens when they visit most parenting forums online.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=-6c1edsAAAAJ&hl=en">My research</a> focuses on understanding how modern fathers find and use online communities of men in similar situations, as they all try to make sense of their own parenting identities. By interviewing fathers and using big data analysis, my co-author and I found that fathers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/2702123.2702205">seek information and support online</a>, use more anonymous social media sites like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3174063">Reddit to discuss sensitive issues</a> such as divorce and child custody conflicts, and blog about do-it-yourself projects as a way of <a href="http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Etawfiqam/Ammari_CraftingFatherHood_CSCW17.pdf">legitimizing their childcare and domestic work</a> as masculine labor.</p>
<h2>Fathers look for community online</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/2702123.2702325">Analyzing 102 interviews</a>, a <a href="http://socialmedia.si.umich.edu/">team of us</a> found that fathers are active on social media, including posting photos about their children’s milestones, such as walking or crawling, and pictures of activities like dancing and baseball. But fathers are less involved than mothers in managing online sharing of child-related content. We found that <a href="http://time.com/3758085/third-shift-social-media">moms were fielding the questions and making the decisions</a> about whether Grandma could share a picture with the baby on her Facebook wall or if friends could share photos of the child’s birthday party.</p>
<p>I and others have also found most fathers reluctant to share family content with social networks that include colleagues and managers. Mothers felt fewer such constraints, even when their social media accounts also included professional contacts.</p>
<p>In private Facebook groups, though, fathers are willing to discuss their parenting experiences – whether they are small local groups, private chats or even <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/lifeofdaddadsonly/">groups with thousands of members</a>. In these groups, dads gain social support and seek advice, especially from older fathers who have experienced similar problems. Fathers told me that Facebook group discussions ranged from daily parenting experiences like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1exjkyw81yw">diaper changing</a> to more serious <a href="https://theconversation.com/have-children-heres-how-kids-ruin-your-romantic-relationship-57944">issues around marital problems</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/postpartum-depression-can-affect-dads-and-their-hormones-may-be-to-blame-81310">especially for new parents</a>. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1exjkyw81yw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Some dads make online videos about their experiences.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Reddit as a haven</h2>
<p>In contrast, some fathers were reluctant to discuss more personal issues – like divorce and custody – on Facebook, where posts are labeled with their names. Instead, they felt safer using other online names on sites like Reddit, where it was harder for people to associate their posts with their actual identity. When posting under pseudonyms, fathers were willing to share deeply personal details beyond what’s usually appropriate on Facebook. </p>
<p>My collaborators and I analyzed how fathers use Reddit by studying <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3174063">about 2 million parenting comments</a>. We focused on three parenting forums, including <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/daddit/">r/Daddit</a>, a subreddit for “Dads. Single Dads, new Dads, Step-Dads, tall Dads, short Dads, and any other kind of Dad.” </p>
<p>When fathers discussed divorce and custody issues on Reddit, they covered topics as diverse as venting about their plight in family court and detailed legal questions about their cases. Fathers also discussed controversial issues like vaccination and circumcision. One father suggested in an interview that Reddit is a “peaceful place to post an opinion” because he did not have to deal with reactions from friends, colleagues and family members. </p>
<h2>The DIY dad</h2>
<p>When I started talking to fathers about their use of social media sites, I did not set out to ask about do-it-yourself projects, but the theme emerged from the interviews. In one project, I supplemented interviews with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/2702123.2702205">visual and rhetorical analyses of father blogs</a>, finding that fathers blog about their DIY projects and tie that work into their fatherhood experiences and their domestic roles. They engaged their children in projects like retiling bathrooms, teaching useful skills while also carving out quality father-child time. Blogging about these projects gave these fathers a way to describe how they could be <a href="http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Etawfiqam/Ammari_CraftingFatherHood_CSCW17.pdf">both caretakers and providers at the same time</a>.</p>
<p>Notably, fathers used DIY language to describe work traditionally considered feminine. For example, fathers blogged about <a href="https://www.lunchboxdad.com">preparing lunchboxes</a> and craft work like <a href="http://www.dadncharge.com/2015/07/a-true-art-attack.html">creating children’s toys from recycled trash</a>. When working on traditionally feminine domestic work like cooking, fathers emphasized that they were not only cooking but “<a href="https://www.manmadediy.com/">hacking the kitchen</a>,” imbuing daily tasks with more masculine <a href="http://treplifedad.com/about/">entrepreneurial language</a>.</p>
<p>Fathers today face the paired challenges of shifting domestic pressures in dual-earner families and lagging social preconceptions of dads as breadwinners and mere helpers for mothers. Through my research, I am shedding light on the ways that fathers can find support and guidance on social media, and I hope to promote involvement and inclusion among men in their roles and responsibilities as fathers. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100150/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tawfiq Ammari is a PhD candidate at the University of Michigan School of Information. He is funded in part by a gift from Mozilla. Previously he was an intern at Mozilla and at Microsoft Research.</span></em></p>The tasks of fatherhood are changing, but society’s expectations haven’t caught up. Many dads use online discussion groups, blogs and videos to explore their new identities.Tawfiq Ammari, Ph.D. Candidate in Information, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/458772015-08-17T20:26:54Z2015-08-17T20:26:54ZHow fatherhood is changing for the better<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91274/original/image-20150810-11068-1av1ldr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Traditionally, fathers were breadwinners and disciplinarians. Fathers taught their sons how to play football and encouraged their children to “buy a block of land”. I’ve been researching fatherhood for 25 years and, in the past, the traditional role of the father was manifest. But this is changing substantially. </p>
<p>Today’s fathers are far more eager to take on the job of fatherhood and are determined to be less distant and more hands-on than their own fathers.</p>
<p>The most emotional part of my book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fathers-Sons-Lovers-About-Their/dp/0646288164">Fathers, Sons and Lovers</a> was when I got men talking about what they wished their dad had done. One said sadly that it would have been great to get a hug from his dad.</p>
<p>The result? Today’s dads are determined to take up the role and do it better. <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2011.03715.x/abstract">Research shows this desire</a> even among adolescent males whose girlfriends became pregnant unexpectedly.</p>
<h2>Diversity</h2>
<p>Dads are diverse and becoming more so. Canadian fatherhood researcher John Hoffman introduced a review of fathering by <a href="http://www.fira.ca/cms/documents/211/FatherFactorsFinal.pdf">listing all the kinds of fathers</a> we need to keep in mind. </p>
<p>This includes men whose partner is the main earner; gay dads who have children from an earlier marriage; gay dads who have had children through a surrogate mother; men in various stages of separation and divorce; men who see their children only as their far-distant work permits; and men in cross-cultural and cross-racial partnerships. </p>
<p>Television programs like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Husbands">House Husbands</a> usefully reflect the many and diverse types of fathers. </p>
<h2>Why is fathering important?</h2>
<p>My discussions with fathers found many did not feel confident with newborns. This resonates with <a href="http://www.fira.ca/cms/documents/211/FatherFactorsFinal.pdf">Hoffman’s research</a>. New fathers feel less confident and need more support from families and friends. </p>
<p>However, the research also found that mothers were more successful breastfeeding when the father attended breastfeeding seminars, showing that the support of the father has empirical benefits in raising children.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.fira.ca/cms/documents/211/FatherFactorsFinal.pdf">Getting involved early</a> is vital for men to do the many tasks of fathering in a way that satisfies them and their partners. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91275/original/image-20150810-11104-bz3gj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91275/original/image-20150810-11104-bz3gj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91275/original/image-20150810-11104-bz3gj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91275/original/image-20150810-11104-bz3gj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91275/original/image-20150810-11104-bz3gj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91275/original/image-20150810-11104-bz3gj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91275/original/image-20150810-11104-bz3gj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91275/original/image-20150810-11104-bz3gj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">New fathers reported being daunted by the prospect of a newborn.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>Fathering transforms men. Australian men in my research believed there was a very defined traditional notion of being a man. Men felt they must be strong, never admit weakness, not be emotional except in sport or in the privacy of the bedroom, be endlessly interested in sex, and be wary of anything soft. Only small variations of the “how to be a man” script came out in <a href="http://www.pearson.com.au/products/K-L-Kimmel-Messner/Men-s-Lives/9780205096411?R=9780205096411">US research</a>.</p>
<p>But fatherhood takes men into a domain of nurturing which is often previously foreign to them. Men in a <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=vHnEC3dLQ50C&pg=PA236&lpg=PA236&dq=K.J.+Daly+Father+Involvement&source=bl&ots=zKZZXt3tUG&sig=9xUu_RCi_OsuBgrbe8RyCx_Bc0U&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDMQ6AEwBGoVChMIssCm6d2dxwIVC42UCh000A9R#v=onepage&q=K.J.%20Daly%20Father%20Involvement&f=false">2012 study</a> said their children had made them better men and given them useful insights into themselves.</p>
<p>Fathering has <a href="http://www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/changing-father.aspx">many proven benefits to children</a>, with fathers orienting their children to the outside world with talk of work, money, sport and adventure.</p>
<p><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2011.03715.x/abstract">Research has found</a> that when their father takes an interest in them, kids’ school results are better, they are less likely to be violent, have a teen pregnancy, or become victims of other adversities.</p>
<h2>Progress</h2>
<p>The challenges of fatherhood are being met in part by more positive messages to dads. <a href="http://www.relationshipsvictoria.com.au/assets/PDFs/Dads-in-Play-Report-August-2012-small.pdf">Fathers are increasingly attending</a> school-based workshops on being a father. Some Australian centres offer programs for new mums and dads.</p>
<p>Governments and employers must reinforce the idea that fathers have a key role in raising a child. Quebec has father-only days for parental leave and now far more fathers take parental leave here than anywhere else in Canada. </p>
<p><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2011.03715.x/abstract">Researchers</a> strongly recommend that pre-natal classes include informal discussions with expectant fathers. In addition, they should encourage men who are about to become new dads to seek advice from fathers and grandfathers.</p>
<p>We now have <a href="http://resources.beyondblue.org.au/prism/file?token=BL/0775">Dads’</a> <a href="http://www.families.nsw.gov.au/assets/dads-toolkit.pdf">Toolkits</a> and provision for <a href="http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/dad_and_partner_pay.html">paid leave for fathers</a> and partners. <a href="http://www.babycentre.co.uk/a1013021/how-dads-bond">Websites to help dads</a> are also appearing far more frequently.</p>
<p>Fathers have come a long way since the days when they were distant authority figures. Young dads are showing their determination to outdo their own fathers, by seizing on the role with energy and enthusiasm.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/45877/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter West does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>I’ve been researching fatherhood for 25 years and, in the past, the traditional role of the father was manifest. But this is changing substantially.Peter West, Casual Academic, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/442002015-07-06T05:14:40Z2015-07-06T05:14:40ZThe latest statistics on teenage births are missing a vital ingredient: fathers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/87359/original/image-20150703-20481-1gtp5fe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Out of the picture</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Teenage births are declining across <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30275449">much of the developed world</a>. For example, the <a href="http://www.nisra.gov.uk/archive/demography/publications/annual_reports/2014/Table3.10_2014.xls">latest statistics</a> show teenage births in Northern Ireland, as in the rest of the UK, are experiencing a steady downward trend: from 1,791 in 1999 to 839 in 2014.</p>
<p>However, these figures only tell us about teenage births not teenage pregnancies. We don’t know how many teenagers in Northern Ireland have abortions. Retrictions mean most women who wish to terminate a pregnancy travel to other parts of the UK or Europe to do so or obtain “<a href="http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/belfast-woman-will-go-on-trial-for-helping-her-daughter-to-have-a-medical-abortion-31314912.html">abortion pills</a>” over the internet, leaving an incomplete picture of teenage pregnancies.</p>
<p>We do know that the rest of the UK still has one of the <a href="http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/births-by-area-of-usual-residence-of-mother--england-and-wales/2012/sty-international-comparisons-of-teenage-pregnancy.html">highest rates of teenage pregnancy</a> in Europe, despite <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-31602417">recent falls</a>. Just under <a href="http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/conception-statistics--england-and-wales/2013/stb-conceptions-in-england-and-wales-2013.html">25,000 women</a> under the age of 18 became pregnant in England and Wales in 2013 and approximately half of these opted for legal abortion. So it is likely that the rate of teenage pregnancy in Northern Ireland is quite a lot higher than the rate of teenage births.</p>
<p>However, the latest figures on births also tell us little about the fathers. Teenage pregnancy is often considered to be a woman’s problem, or a problem for women and children – or even society more broadly – but teenage men are rarely part of this picture.</p>
<h2>Counting the costs</h2>
<p>Of course, not all teenage pregnancies are unintended or unwanted. They can be a welcome and fulfilling aspect of many teenage women’s lives. Yet, when we do count the negatives, we only count these in terms of the adverse medical, educational and economic outcomes for teenage mothers and their children.</p>
<p>Also, when we count the costs, it is always in terms of the costs of “teenage mothers” to the exchequer. For example, we know that every year in England <a href="http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/6334/">approximately £26m</a> is paid in benefits to teenage mothers on income support. The Northern Ireland government has pinned the cost to the economy of each teenage mum at <a href="http://www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/dhssps_sexual_health_plan_front_cvr.pdf">£20,000 a year</a> based on income support plus tax revenue foregone with an approximate annual cost to the Exchequer of £25m.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/87360/original/image-20150703-20487-vgsn9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/87360/original/image-20150703-20487-vgsn9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/87360/original/image-20150703-20487-vgsn9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/87360/original/image-20150703-20487-vgsn9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/87360/original/image-20150703-20487-vgsn9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/87360/original/image-20150703-20487-vgsn9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/87360/original/image-20150703-20487-vgsn9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Sharing responsibility.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>But most births to teenage women are also births to teenage men. Teenage boys have a vital but neglected role in preventing unintended pregnancy and standing up to the responsibility of dealing with a teenage birth. <a href="http://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/media/Media,358434,en.pdf">Research shows</a> children with fathers who are involved in their lives do better in education, are happier (have higher self-esteem and life satisfaction) and have better relationships with childhood friends as well as relationships in adulthood. The children of involved fathers are also less likely to show problem behaviours such as delinquency and other criminal behaviours.</p>
<p>But to help men plan for parenthood in their lives we need to start educating young men at an earlier age. Boys are <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883035514000792">less likely</a> to receive relationship and sexuality education in schools in general and especially in relation to teenage pregnancy. The lack of resources for teaching boys about teenage pregnancy has prompted the World Health Organisation among others to <a href="http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/158093/316637_WHO_brochure_226x226_5-AdolecentPregnancy.pdf">call for action</a>. And <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088303551400079">research shows</a> that parents are much less likely to talk to their sons than their daughters about avoiding a teenage pregnancy. </p>
<p>The rates of teenage births are also thought to be <a href="http://www.childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Child_Trends-2012_06_01_RB_TeenFathers.pdf;%20http://www.children1st.org.uk/media/69930/spr-pub-031.pdf">much greater</a> for boys and young men who might be most in need of support. Approximately <a href="http://www.parentingacrossscotland.org/publications/essays-about-parenting/some-practice-examples/young-fathers-in-prison-helping-them-parent.aspx">one in four</a> young men in young offenders’ institutes are thought to be or about to become fathers.</p>
<h2>Part of the solution</h2>
<p>It’s time to engage teenage men not just as part of the problem of unintended pregnancy in teenagers’ lives but as part of the solution. To do this, we should ensure that teenage fathers are <a href="http://www.fatherhoodinstitute.org/2012/fi-joins-david-lammy-mp-to-call-for-joint-birth-registration">always registered</a> as fathers at the birth of their children. We can also provide boys with better relationship and sexuality education, which includes them in the reproductive equation and educates them that as they become sexually active they also become reproductively active too.</p>
<p>Recognising this need, my colleagues and I are studying the effectiveness of a new educational resource entitled “<a href="http://www.nets.nihr.ac.uk/news/all/2014/new-study-addressing-unintended-teenage-pregnancy">If I were Jack…</a>”. This is designed to help young boys aged 14 to 16 years as well as girls imagine the consequences of an unintended pregnancy and to develop the skills to avoid one.</p>
<p>Teenage pregnancy and teenage births are not all about the girl – and forgetting that comes with costs both for our society and for thousands of children. It’s time to share the responsibility with young men, from pregnancy to birth to fatherhood.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/44200/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maria Lohan is chief investigator of the Jack Trial, a RCT feasibility study of a new educational intervention designed to increase boys’ as well as girls’ intentions to avoid an unintended teenage pregnancy, which is delivered in second level schools. The Jack Trial was funded by the National Institute for Health Research Public Health Research (NIHR PHR) Programme (project number 12/153/26)”. PHR Protocol - project ref: 12/153/26. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the NIHR PHR Programme or the Department of Health.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Áine Aventin is lead Research Fellow on the The Jack Trial. Funding details of the study are as above under Dr Maria Lohan <a href="http://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/IfIWereJack/">http://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/IfIWereJack/</a> </span></em></p>Young men are being forgotten when it comes to teenage pregnancy but helping them share responsibility could have a big impact.Maria Lohan, Senior Lecturer in Nursing and Midwifery, Queen's University BelfastÁine Aventin, Research Fellow in Nursing & Midwifery, Queen's University BelfastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/351562015-01-08T19:24:33Z2015-01-08T19:24:33ZDoes my BMI look big in this? And does it really matter?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67592/original/image-20141218-31043-1og408g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Being lean and unfit is worse than being fat and fit.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/raulito39/14913654773">Raúl González/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>This month, the toxic combination of extreme heat and summer holidays will probably mean that you’re going to expose more flesh than you would like to someone whose opinion you care about. </p>
<p>January is the month of fat-phobia, when you regret that you allowed the gym membership you took out in August (the most <a href="https://fitness.org.au/article.php?group_id=2749">popular month</a> for gym sign-ons) to lapse in September. You’re not alone: 67% of people with gym memberships <a href="http://www.statisticbrain.com/gym-membership-statistics/">no longer use them</a>. </p>
<p>So let’s cut to the bone on this fat business: How do we measure fatness? What is this BMI thing, and is it all it’s cracked up to be? Is life just one long slide into adiposity, and what can I do about it?</p>
<p>Epidemiologists most commonly use <a href="http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/healthy-eating/Pages/bmi-calculator.aspx">body mass index</a> (BMI) as a measure of fatness. BMI is calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms by the square of your height in metres. </p>
<p>Take me, for example. I weigh 81kg, and am 1.8m tall, so my BMI is exactly 25. BMIs less than 18.5 are considered to be dangerously low, 18.5-25 in the “normal” or “healthy” range (so I just scrape in, fasted, nude, fairly dehydrated, on a good day), 25-30 is considered overweight, and greater than 30 obese. </p>
<p>These <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2065990/">cut-offs</a> came from studies of relationships between BMI and all-cause mortality in non-smokers in the 1950s, when the risk of dying was lowest for BMIs of 20-25. </p>
<p>Now the limitations of BMI should be obvious to anyone. What if I’ve got a lot of muscle and not much fat? Michael Hooper (the current Wallabies’ captain), boxing champion Mike Tyson and Rugby League great Mal Meninga in their prime would all be classified as obese, but I wouldn’t describe them as fat, and certainly not to their faces. </p>
<p>What about Samoans and Fijians, who have a very large muscle mass, or Asians who tend to be much more lightly muscled? Some researchers recommend higher or lower cut-offs for specific ethnic groups. </p>
<p>There’s some evidence that adults are getting fatter at the same BMI — that is, someone with a BMI of 25 today is fatter than someone with a BMI of 25 a few decades ago. BMI is probably also <a href="http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/255712.php">biased</a> against taller people due to some inappropriate scaling assumptions. </p>
<p>Some rather more surprising difficulties with BMI have emerged recently. While the risk of death may indeed have been lowest in the normal range in the 1950s, it certainly isn’t now. A slew of <a href="http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v67/n6/full/ejcn201361a.html">recent studies</a> have shown that the risk is now lowest for people right in the middle of the overweight range, with a BMI of about 27.</p>
<p>The problem is that BMI measures relative weight, at best a poor proxy for fatness, which may be the real metabolic culprit. Fatness may be better estimated from skinfolds (pinches of fat at embarrassing sites on the body), which the <a href="https://www.essa.org.au/membership/accreditation/">Exercise and Sports Science Australia-accredited</a> exercise professional at your local gym should be able to measure for you. </p>
<p>Even more to the point is the distribution of body fat: being fat in the wrong places (around the abdomen) is worse than being fat in the right places (hips and thighs). In fact, thigh fat <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1870428">appears to be protective</a>, leading to a healthier blood fat profile, but unfortunately less chance of attracting the desirable targets on the beach. </p>
<p>A simple measure is waist girth — measure it with a tape half-way between the bottom of the ribs and the top of the hip bones. The Australian government recommends cut-offs of 94 cm (bad) and 102 cm (very bad) for men, and 80 cm and 88 cm for women. </p>
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<span class="caption">When it comes to disease risk, getting fat is worse than being fat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/2625987077">Ed Yourdon/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
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<p>If you’ve really got some time and money to spare, universities and some radiologists can give you a DXA (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) scan, pretty much the gold standard these days, which will tell you just how much fat you have and where it is. </p>
<p>Does getting older inevitably mean getting fatter? Just about every longitudinal study shows weight gain with age. <a href="http://www.nature.com/ijo/journal/v27/n4/full/0802263a.html">American</a> and <a href="http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/14/1219">Australian</a> studies report weight gains of 0.2 to 1.0 kg/year in adults aged 20 to 60, with slower rates of gain for people who are physically active, and richer. </p>
<p>There are good physiological reasons to expect increasing body fat with age: anabolic hormones responsible for converting excess calories into muscle rather than fat — testosterone, human growth hormone — decline rapidly with age, and physical activity becomes harder with age-related musculoskeletal and joint problems. </p>
<p>There’s bad news on the weight gain front, I’m afraid: getting fat is worse than being fat. In a <a href="http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/09/07/aje.kwt179.abstract">16 year follow-up</a> of almost 10,000 Americans aged 51 or more, those least likely to die were overweight people who remained overweight, while gaining weight led to higher risk.</p>
<p>Certain life events can trigger rapid weight gain. There is a sudden weight gain of a few kilograms when women move in with a partner — perhaps it’s the “I’m no longer on the market” effect. But there’s still hope: divorce will <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130403200416.htm">reverse it</a>. </p>
<p>Mothers’ weight <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2930888/">increases permanently</a> by up to 4 kg after the birth of their first child, for reasons which any mother will be happy to tell you about. After about age 60, weight starts to fall, usually marking the beginning of the slow decline to frailty and death. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67603/original/image-20141218-31021-1jubixc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67603/original/image-20141218-31021-1jubixc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67603/original/image-20141218-31021-1jubixc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67603/original/image-20141218-31021-1jubixc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67603/original/image-20141218-31021-1jubixc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67603/original/image-20141218-31021-1jubixc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67603/original/image-20141218-31021-1jubixc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Avoiding weight gain comes down to good diet and exercise.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/5831004570">Ed Yourdon/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
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<p>So what can you do to avoid weight creep, or at least minimise its effects? I have nothing new to offer in this department: eat lots of fruit and veges and wholegrains, get lots of exercise, get a <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-sleepless-nights-can-lead-to-weight-gain-12736">good sleep</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/education-wealth-and-the-place-you-live-can-affect-your-weight-7941">get rich</a>. </p>
<p>Remember that being lean and unfit is worse than being fat and fit. In <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10546694">one study</a>, men who were lean but unfit had almost twice the risk of dying compared to men who were overweight but fit. And all the rest, from crossfit to core training, from carbs to quinoa, all the rest, as Verlaine says, is just literature.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35156/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Olds receives funding from the NHMRC and ARC.</span></em></p>This month, the toxic combination of extreme heat and summer holidays will probably mean that you’re going to expose more flesh than you would like to someone whose opinion you care about. January is the…Tim Olds, Professor of Health Sciences, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/336622014-10-30T17:29:31Z2014-10-30T17:29:31ZYoung Fathers: must we label the Mercury winners as Scottish?<p>I’m not going to start this article by referring to Young Fathers as an <a href="http://edinburgh.stv.tv/176907/">“Edinburgh-based hip-hop group”.</a> It’s not clear whether they are currently based in Edinburgh, consider themselves to be based in Edinburgh, or what it means to be based there anyway. They <a href="http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2014/10/young-fathers-unexpectedly-win-the-mercury-prize.html">describe themselves as</a> a “Liberian/Nigerian/Scottish psychedelic hip-hop electro boy band” and were in London to collect a £20,000 cheque as the winners of the 2014 Barclaycard Mercury Prize. </p>
<p>The judging panel of critics, radio DJs and artists decided that Young Fathers’ debut album, Dead, was the best one released by a British group or artist in the last 12 months. Better than the odds-on favourite, FKA Twigs, South London rapper/poet Kate Tempest, and purveyor of post-colonial melancholia, Damon Albarn. </p>
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<p>At odds of 20-1, Young Fathers were a good outside bet but few would have predicted they would win. When asked how they would spend the prize money, Graham “G” Hasting said they would go to Berlin to record another album: a slightly different work ethic to one of the other “Scottish” groups, Primal Scream, who <a href="http://pitchfork.com/features/5-10-15-20/9204-primal-scream/">famously lost</a> their winner’s cheque while celebrating the victory of Screamadelica in 1992. </p>
<h2>Identity crisis</h2>
<p>I use quotation marks around the word “Scottish” because while the original members of Primal Scream hailed from Glasgow and were associated with the sound of suburban places like Bellshill, they have been based in Brighton and other cities at different points during their career. I don’t remember them ever being described as “a Brighton-based band”. Place was irrelevant, though they continue to be claimed as a Scottish band, particularly <a href="http://www.scotsman.com/100-best-scottish-albums-1-1810414">when it comes to</a> compiling lists of the greatest Scottish albums of all time.</p>
<p>Similarly, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/3636272.stm">2004 Mercury winners</a> Franz Ferdinand are often referred to as a Glasgow band because its members met, worked, studied, played gigs and partied there. But Alex Kapranos was born in England and it would be interesting to find out how many days of the year they spend in Glasgow or how committed they are to any one particular scene. </p>
<p>Artists working at this level may be less likely to acknowledge the same geographical boundaries that the media like to put on them. They want to cross borders rather than be defined by a single city or strangled and suffocated by a sense of Scottishness. </p>
<h2>You can’t pin down a Young Father</h2>
<p>Young Fathers refuse to categorise themselves as a Scottish hip-hop group or even a hip-hop group for that matter. They’re <a href="http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4148414-young-fathers--when-an-artist-knows-what-genre-they-are-they-ve-f-ing-failed">on record as saying</a> that if you can be defined by a genre, you’ve failed as a musician or artist. </p>
<p>Of course, musicians and artists always say this when they want to considered innovative: they don’t want to be restricted by marketing categories. Bristol musicians Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky were uncomfortable with the term trip-hop, for example, because they were working across a number of musical genres: hip-hop, reggae, post punk. </p>
<p>Young Fathers are no different. Signed in the US to avant-garde hip-hop label Anticon, their sound includes African influences – Alloysious Massaquoi was born in Liberia and Kayus Bankole is the son of Nigerian parents. And there are lyrical references to AK47s, not generally the weapon of choice on the streets of north Edinburgh where they grew up. </p>
<p>Authenticity isn’t their priority, even though it has been important throughout the history of hip-hop with its rhetoric of “keeping it real”. Young Fathers are more about artifice, creating new imaginative worlds for themselves and listeners. They’ve said they wanted to “make something bigger than the city we were living in” and seem dedicated to making artistic statements rather than political ones. </p>
<p>That’s refreshing in a country where indie rock with Scottish accents has ruled the airwaves over the last few years. The recent referendum debate found most musicians supporting a rather depressing artistic consensus in favour of independence, with some becoming too closely associated with saltire-waving and nationalist politicians. If the role of the artist is to question and challenge orthodoxies, it’ll be interesting to hear what Young Fathers do next as they continue to try and evade categories relating to place, nation or musical genre. </p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Harkins does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>I’m not going to start this article by referring to Young Fathers as an “Edinburgh-based hip-hop group”. It’s not clear whether they are currently based in Edinburgh, consider themselves to be based in…Paul Harkins, Lecturer in Popular Music, Edinburgh Napier UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.