https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170718142938.htm

  • At 9 years of age, children who had lost their father had significantly shorter telomeres -- 14 percent shorter on average -- than children who had not. A profound level of biological change.

  • Death had the largest association, and the effects were greater for boys than girls.

  • Telomeres reflect cell ageing/health. Shortened telomeres have been found to have wide ranging impact on health including cancers and cardiovascular disease.

  • The Fragile Families Study -- based at Princeton and Columbia University -- has been following a cohort of about 5,000 children

  • "This association is especially strong for boys who lost or were separated from their fathers before the age of 5."

  • "The researchers speculated that there are many reasons why father loss might be a major stressor for a child, such as the loss of family income following a separation or divorce." - I'm just including this to hint how author/researchers see the primary purpose of a father

  • "The fact that there is an actual measurable biological outcome that is related to the absence of a father makes more credible the urgency of public policy efforts to maintain contact between children and fathers," - maybe something good might come out of this study ... in 50 years or so

  • " "If you understand that, for example, punishing a father by incarceration may have an indelible effect not only on the psyche and development of the child, but also on the ability of the child's chromosomes to maintain their integrity, then perhaps you had better understand the importance of measures to mitigate the effects of incarceration" such as educational initiatives or psychological interventions for children, according to Notterman. "

An optimist will see this as being used to improve family courts.

A pessimist will see this used to justify lower prison sentences towards demographics with increased rates of absent fathers, in the name of social justice.