A study by the University of Helsinki has found that the number of children you have may be linked to how your body ages over time. The research, which involved 14,836 women, found that women with no children and high numbers of children showed faster biological aging and higher mortality risk than women with roughly two to three children. The lowest biological aging occurred among women with an average number of three children and their pregnancies occurred between ages 24 and 38. The study also found that early childbearing was associated with faster biological age, but this connection weakened after accounting for other factors such as body mass index and alcohol use. The researchers stressed that individual women should not change their plans or wishes about children based on this study.