COVID didn’t really lead to lasting effects on fatherhood

The changes in fathering that came with COVID lockdowns have not outlasted the pandemic itself, according to new research.

In the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, much has been said about how the lockdowns created conditions for dual-parent families to spend more time at home with their children.

In an ideal vision of family life, this would have led to parents sharing in quality time and caregiving responsibilities, and bonding with their children in a way they hadn’t been able to do before.

In the United States, ample attention was given to the novelty of how dads, in particular, were getting much more time to participate in the daily, often mundane and yet intimate tasks of child-rearing. Many people hoped that the change would persist, allowing dads more time and flexibility in the long term—ultimately reshaping how we view fatherhood in general.

“COVID didn’t really lead to a large-scale uptick in this new vision for fathering on the part of dads across the board,” says Lee Gettler, a professor of anthropology and chair of the anthropology department at the University of Notre Dame, as well as an affiliated faculty at the Eck Institute for Global Health and the William J. Shaw Center for Children and Families.

“I think what’s been missing from many of those initial reports was a wider perspective on what the realities are for families and fathers in the United States and around the world following the pandemic,” he says, “especially as we think about common jobs for men, precarity in the workplace and economic inequality.”

To address those gaps in understanding, Gettler and his team, which included coauthor and postdoctoral research associate Sarah Hoegler Dennis, relied on 15 years of longitudinal data to compare fathers’ pre-COVID to post-COVID behaviors. The researchers looked at this data from a non-Euro-American perspective in a major metropolitan area in the Philippines.

What they found was that fathering behaviors, for the most part, did not change much before COVID began versus shortly after the pandemic ended.

“There was this idea out there that a meaningful percentage of dads were spending more time with their kids during the lockdown periods, even if they were still working, and that the dynamics of COVID would lead to this long-term effect on what and how much dads were doing within their families,” Gettler says. “And we just didn’t see that prevailing change.”

The research team drew on a large sample of men who were around 25 years old at the start of the study and followed them for the next 15 years as part of a larger set of research in Cebu, Philippines. Gettler and his team have been studying fathering and the “biology of fatherhood” as part of this project for close to 20 years, and have found that fathers in Cebu have become much more involved in the past few decades, mirroring father involvement in the United States.

During the pandemic, the Philippines also had one of the longest lockdown periods in the world, according to Gettler, with some of the most strict, government-mandated quarantine guidelines in place, making this an appropriate site to test for the effects of the stay-at-home orders on fathering.

“There are questions remaining about how we can continue to encourage dads in dual-parent families to pull their weight, be a supportive partner or to balance the responsibilities of what it takes to run a household and take care of young children. COVID exposed or habituated more dads to what that can look like, but now we need to enable them to continue that behavior.”

The researchers used waves of socio-demographic and fathers’ caregiving data collected prior to the pandemic (2009 and 2014) and after the pandemic (2022-23). The main analyses focused on caregiving changes over time for fathers who had young children at home both pre- and post-pandemic, looking at how involved they were with routine, hands-on care for babies and young children, recreational play and activities, and educational caregiving tasks.

“What we found is that COVID—and the time dads spent at home with their children during that period—did not change fathering in any lasting way,” Gettler says. “As soon as life gets back to normal, we see that dads are continuing to do the same thing they were doing before COVID.”

With one exception, Gettler notes.

For the group of fathers who found themselves going from employed to either unemployed or underemployed because of the pandemic, their involvement with their children’s educational care shot up noticeably, and the change persisted.

“We see this link with employment status and fathers’ ability to spend more time helping kids with school work and homework,” Gettler says. “But that’s the only hint that the conditions surrounding COVID may have contributed to some sort of change in what dads are doing at home.”

At the end of the day, dad’s employment status is the primary predictor for how much care he is providing, Gettler says. He believes that policy changes within the workplace—such as paid paternity leave and widespread flexibility on working from home or setting working hours—might lead to a more lasting change in fatherhood behavior. These structural changes could support permanent shifts in expectations and norms for men as caregivers, and open up more opportunities for dads to get—and stay—involved.

Gettler argues that society needs to recognize how it can better support dads and give them the chance to be more available at home, without the caveat of having to become unemployed or underemployed in order to enjoy such chances to be with their families.

“There are questions remaining about how we can continue to encourage dads in dual-parent families to pull their weight, be a supportive partner or to balance the responsibilities of what it takes to run a household and take care of young children,” Gettler says.

“COVID exposed or habituated more dads to what that can look like, but now we need to enable them to continue that behavior.”

Source: University of Notre Dame

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How worried should you be about hantavirus?

News of a hantavirus outbreak aboard an expedition cruise ship has put a spotlight on the rare but potentially deadly disease.

As of May 6, three passengers have died from acute respiratory illness and several additional cases are suspected among the other passengers and crew.

Health officials are investigating whether the virus, which is typically spread from rodents to humans, may in this case have spread between people on board the ship—a rare but concerning possibility.

Marieke Rosenbaum, assistant professor in the infectious disease and global health department at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, has been investigating whether rats in Boston carry hantavirus.

Here’s what she says the public needs to know about hantaviruses, the ship outbreak, and how to protect against the rodent-borne disease:

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Trees don’t benefit health for everyone

The biological benefits of nature are not the same for all populations, according to a new study.

Being around trees is proven to enhance health, from lowering stress to increasing longevity.

“The prevailing thought among urban planners and health professionals has been that if we plant trees, everyone’s health will get better,” says Amber Pearson, professor in the public health department in the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine.

“Our study found that the benefits of trees aren’t equally experienced.”

Published in the Lancet Regional Health–Americas, the study examined the relationship between residential tree canopy and allostatic load—the cumulative “wear and tear” on the body caused by chronic stress.

Using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data related to 40,307 adults matched with satellite maps of tree cover, Pearson’s team analyzed data for every census block in the country. And they found that while higher tree canopy is generally associated with lower allostatic load, that was not the case for the most vulnerable groups.

“Surprisingly, there is an association between trees and better health for those who have a higher income and education and are employed, but there is no association for less-advantaged people,” Pearson says.

“The findings were consistent for non-Hispanic white and Hispanic subpopulations, but not for non-Hispanic Black participants.”

The study notes that 24% of non-Hispanic Black participants lived in high-canopy neighborhoods, yet they did not show the same reduction in allostatic load seen in white and Hispanic groups. Pearson suggests for some minority groups, other environmental or social stressors—like discrimination—may override the calming effects of nature.

“There are other things that may be more stressful in disadvantaged groups like unfair treatment, lack of good job opportunities, or poor neighborhood conditions that tree canopy is not going to overcome,” Pearson explains.

The findings suggest that while urban greening is a vital public health tool, it must be paired with efforts to address the root causes of social and economic inequality for the most vulnerable groups to reap its benefits.

Source: Michigan State University

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Being overweight may lead to faster cognitive decline

Being overweight may lead to accelerated cognitive decline, according to new research.

Cognitive decline is a normal process. As people age, it often becomes harder to remember things and think as clearly as when they were younger. In otherwise healthy adults, these changes are gradual and subtle.

The new study found higher body mass index over time led to more rapid declines in cognitive functions, memory, and executive functioning than what is typically seen in aging adults. That includes things such as managing emotions, organizing and planning tasks, concentrating, and more.

The researchers relied on data from a nationally representative study that followed more than 8,200 people over the age of 50 for 24 years.

The present study found that every unit increase in BMI led to a more rapid decline in brain health.

But it’s not all bad news.

“We found that if people managed their weight, they could significantly lower their rate of cognitive decline in just two years,” says Suhang Song, lead author of the study and an assistant professor in University of Georgia’s College of Public Health.

“That makes BMI one of the most easily modifiable risk factors when it comes to aging well.”

The researchers found the strongest correlation between BMI and cognitive decline at year eight of the study. The effect was most pronounced in adults over 65.

Defined as having a BMI of 30 or higher, obesity negatively affects brain health. But it’s not clear exactly how, according to the researchers.

It’s likely that extra weight results in inflammation, reduced blood flow and insulin resistance. That may lead to cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, and related dementias.

Two out of every five Americans are considered obese based on their BMI alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Some researchers are pushing for an expanded definition of obesity that also accounts for additional factors including waist size and weight-related health conditions. Under that definition, the percentage of Americans with obesity jumps to 75%.

Meanwhile, more than 7 million people are living with dementia in the US. And that number is predicted to double by 2050, the researchers say.

“There are no cures for dementia,” Song says, “which is why it is critical to identify and address any modifiable risk factors we can find to prevent it.”

The study appears in the Journal of Neurology.

Source: University of Georgia

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Can existing flu shots help protect against bird flu?

New research shows that existing flu shots may offer protection against bird flu.

As potentially deadly avian influenza (H5N1) continues its global spread, moving from birds into mammals and in rare cases into humans, scientists are confronting a difficult reality.

If a human pandemic emerges, vaccines designed specifically to protect people against H5N1 may not be ready in time.

New international research led by National Taiwan University, in collaboration with University of South Florida Health, suggests that part of the answer may already exist.

“…we may be underestimating the broader protective value of seasonal influenza vaccines.”

In a study in Emerging Microbes & Infections, researchers found that seasonal influenza vaccines in routine global use may significantly reduce the risk of death from H5N1 infection. The results are based on a systematic review and analysis of ferret studies, widely considered the gold standard animal model for human influenza.

The findings highlight an important implication for pandemic preparedness, suggesting that readily available tools may offer protection while the world races to develop more targeted solutions.

The Taiwan-US research team analyzed nearly two decades of experimental data from 35 controlled studies involving almost 1,800 ferrets. Seasonal flu vaccines that included a specific component, neuraminidase N1, reduced H5N1-related mortality by approximately 73% in vaccinated animals compared with unvaccinated animals.

That level of protection was comparable to some H5N1-specific vaccines that failed to generate strong immune responses and was only modestly lower than those that did.

In contrast, seasonal vaccines lacking the N1 component showed little to no protective effect, underscoring how specific elements of existing vaccines may play an outsized role in defending against emerging threats.

“This work suggests that we may be underestimating the broader protective value of seasonal influenza vaccines,” says Chi-Tai Fang, professor of infectious diseases epidemiology at National Taiwan University and National Taiwan University Hospital and senior author of the study.

“While they are not designed to target H5N1, certain components appear to activate immune responses that can reduce the severity of infection. In a real-world setting, that kind of partial protection could translate into lives saved while more specific vaccines are being developed and distributed.”

For Sten Vermund, dean of the USF Health College of Public Health, chief medical officer of the Global Virus Network and a coauthor, the findings highlight an important opportunity for pandemic preparedness.

“In a pandemic scenario, timing is everything,” Vermund says. “We often face a critical gap between the emergence of a new virus and the availability of a targeted vaccine. Our findings suggest that seasonal flu vaccination, something already widely available, could help reduce severe outcomes during that window. That is a meaningful advantage when every week matters.”

The study also revealed something unexpected. The seasonal vaccines did not produce detectable antibodies against H5N1 using standard tests. Instead, the protection appears to come from more complex immune mechanisms likely involving cross-reactive cellular responses that are not captured by traditional measures of immunity, suggesting protection may exist even when it is not detectable through standard laboratory markers.

These findings arrive at a critical moment, as H5N1 continues to spread among mammals while limited amounts of vaccine are available globally. This leaves health systems vulnerable in the early stages of an outbreak. While not a substitute for targeted vaccines, extensive adoption of seasonal flu vaccines could buy time by reducing deaths, easing strain on health systems and slowing the impact of a rapidly spreading virus.

The researchers caution that the findings are based on animal models and must be validated in humans, but they also point to an important next step in understanding how existing immunity built through routine vaccination may shape responses to emerging infectious diseases.

Source: University of South Florida

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Listen: Why the Federal Reserve matters more than ever

In a new podcast episode, a Nobel laureate examines the future of Federal Reserve leadership and independence—and how to address future financial crises.

From setting interest rates to keeping inflation in check, the Federal Reserve sits at the center of some of the most important economic decisions shaping our daily lives.

As the Fed prepares for new leadership, as Kevin Warsh prepares to follow the tenure of Jerome Powell, many are wondering: What’s next for the Fed, especially when it comes to their financial decisions and their independence?

Professor Douglas Diamond is a Nobel Prize-winning economist of the University of Chicago. One of the founders of modern banking theory, Diamond has conducted groundbreaking research on banking, particularly during financial crises.

In this episode of Big Brains, Diamond describes the lessons we can learn from past bank runs, including the 2023 collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, and warns that the Fed must remain on guard to help prevent the next financial crisis from happening:

Source: University of Chicago

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Cow manure digester leaks offset their climate benefits

A new study shows that systems designed to capture methane from cow manure, called dairy digesters, are highly effective.

But on the rare occasions they fail, the leaks are large enough to offset their climate benefits.

“I think manure emissions on dairies are underestimated. These digesters seem to be a solution that captures a lot of methane,” says Alyssa Valdez, a University of California, Riverside climate scientist and lead study author. “But I wanted to make sure they were working properly.”

The findings of her study in Environmental Research Letters draw on eight years of satellite and airborne observations of 98 dairies across California. By tracking emissions before, during, and after digester installation, Valdez and her research team were able to see how these systems perform over time and at scale.

Digesters are widely seen as a key climate solution. By sealing manure ponds and capturing the gas they produce, these systems convert methane into usable fuel instead of allowing it to escape into the atmosphere where it has a tremendous effect on the climate.

Methane is shorter lived than carbon dioxide, but it is 80 times more powerful at trapping heat in the atmosphere, making even small releases significant.

A previous study led by UCR climate scientist Francesca Hopkins examined emissions at a single dairy using ground-based measurements. Hopkins found that a well-managed digester can cut methane emissions by as much as 80%. This new research builds on that work by showing how digesters perform across dozens of farms, including what happens when things go wrong.

Across the dairies studied, the number of strong methane plumes declined after digesters were installed, suggesting the systems are effective overall. However, the researchers also detected occasional leaks that were far more intense than emissions from traditional manure storage.

“For the most part, the digesters are working well,” Valdez says. “But the few leaks that happen, they make a huge impact.”

In some cases, the team observed methane escaping at rates around 1,000 kilograms per hour. By comparison, typical emissions from open manure lagoons ranged from 20 to 100 kilograms per hour.

The contrast highlights a central challenge: digesters concentrate methane in one place, making it easier to capture, but they also increase the risk of powerful releases if something goes wrong.

Those large releases are not limited to system failures. The study also captured spikes in emissions during digester construction and installation, a phase that is rarely measured but can produce substantial short-term increases.

To capture these patterns, the researchers relied on satellite and aircraft data. Satellite images allowed them to track changes across dozens of dairies over long periods, which is not possible with traditional ground-based monitoring. Aircraft measurements were then used to identify concentrated methane plumes over specific infrastructure locations, making the approach especially useful for spotting leaks.

“A farmer might not know their digester is leaking,” Valdez says. “This gives us a way to detect issues early and prevent them from becoming long-term problems.”

However, this method does not capture all emissions. It cannot measure more diffuse methane releases from sources such as lagoons or fields. For that reason, the researchers say satellite and airborne observations are most effective when combined with on-the-ground measurements, which provide a fuller picture.

This need for comprehensive monitoring comes as California continues to invest in digesters as part of its strategy to reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases. Hundreds of these systems are already operating or in development across the state.

In some cases, methane releases are not accidental. Operators may vent gas when it cannot be flared due to air quality regulations or when systems require maintenance. These process-related emissions add another layer of complexity to managing digester performance.

Even so, the study shows that most systems are working well and that large leaks are relatively uncommon. But for Valdez, who spent years living in California’s Central Valley, and whose family lives there, the work is about ensuring that climate solutions deliver real benefits in a region critical to the nation’s food system.

“This region is the backbone of our food supply, but people there also carry a lot of fear about air quality,” she says. “And they have good reasons for that.”

More broadly, the study highlights the need to pay closer attention to agricultural waste.

“We need to start caring about poop,” Valdez says. “And we need to keep verifying that these solutions are actually working. If we monitor them carefully, we can make sure they deliver on their promise.”

Source: UC Riverside

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