A study from Toho University in Tokyo looked at how the heart-rate of children over four months and under one year of age responded to a hug from a parent and from a woman whom the children did not know.

Children’s heart rate became slower when they were being hugged by their parents as opposed to when they were being hugged by a stranger. Parents’ heart rate also slowed during the hug. Hugs affected the heart-rate of babies only when the children were neither crying nor unsettled. The researchers surmise that hugs are an important part of parenting and easy to offer on a regular basis, producing significant positive effects on relaxation in both babies and parents.

---

REFERENCE
Yoshida, S., Kawahara, Y., Sasatani, T., Kiyono, K., Kobayashi, Y. et al. (2020) Infants show physiological responses specific to parental hugs. iScience. DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.10099

---

[Editor’s Note: This three study is particularly important for educators and health care professionals working with families across the transition to parenthood. They strengthen the evidence-base for what has long been known – that a healthy diet is important pre-conception; that screens can interfere with sensitive communication between parents and children, and that hugs are a powerful means of helping parents and babies to relax!]