Single dads apparently don't take their kids to the doctor as often as other parents, a new study found.

If a kid lives with a single father he or she is 8 percent less likely to make a well-child visit compared with other families, Health Services Research reported citing a new study. These kids are 20 percent more likely to go without health insurance for 12 months, researchers found.

This group doesn't cover too many kids - only 6 percent of U.S. families are led by a single father - but that population is growing, the study found. In fact, the number of single-father families is growing faster than single-mom led clans, according to the research.

"The bottom line is that children in single-father families may be more vulnerable to health problems because they're not getting well-child visits or they don't have easy access to care when they need it," co-author Kathleen Ziol-Guest, a co-author of the study who is also scholar at the Harvard School of Public Health, said in a statement.