Almost everyone acknowledges the importance of a woman’s health status and diet both before and during pregnancy. But not enough attention is paid to paternal health. Diet and the health status of fathers are important as well.
For example, one study showed that if a father experienced food scarcity during the years preceding puberty, his children had a 58% lower risk of dying of heart disease as adults. On the other hand, a study showed that the opposite was true – too much food and overeating resulted in a four-fold increased risk of mortality due to diabetes in grandchildren. The effect is multigenerational.[1]
The impact is not just based on how much future dads eat, but also which foods are consumed. A study of father rats showed that after 12 weeks of eating a high-fat diet, newborn daughter rats had a 30% reduction in pancreatic beta cell mass. Beta cells produce insulin. When those daughter rats became adults, they had a higher risk of glucose intolerance and lower plasma insulin levels.[2] Birthweight is lower for babies if the father has diabetes and/or eats fast food frequently.[3]
Additionally, data from over 3000 families showed that the father’s weight at conception had a significant influence on the weight of his children after factoring in the weight of the mother. Paternal obesity can also negatively impact neurological development. Researchers looked at data for 3759 single-birth children and 1062 twins and their parents. The risk of impaired social functioning, which includes issues like avoidance of interpersonal relationships and social isolation, increased if fathers were obese; and having two obese parents increased the likelihood of failing for several domains, including fine motor, personal-social, and problem solving.[4]
The mechanisms of action are known. Small RNA molecules in sperm, referred to as mitochondrial tRNA fragments, influence the inheritance of health traits through gene regulation.[5]
The bottom line: A father’s health pre-conception matters and has a profound influence on the health and life of his child. Today, most Americans are overweight and unhealthy, and getting fatter and sicker throughout their lifetimes. This is resulting in generations of increasingly unhealthy people who not only create a financial burden for all of us due to their increased healthcare needs, but also diminished quality of life and reduced lifespan for them.
[1] Kaati G, Bygren LO, Edvinsson S. "Cardiovascular and diabetes mortality determined by nutrition during parents and grandparents’ slow growth period." Eur J Hum Genet 2022 Oct;10:682-688
[2] De Castro Barbasa T, Ingerslev LR, Alm PS et al. "High-fat diet reprograms the epigenome of rat spermatozoa and transgenerationally affects metabolism of the offspring." Molec Metab 2016 mar;5(3):184-197
[3] Moss J, Harris K. "Impact of maternal and paternal preconception health on birth outcomes using prospective couples' data in Add Health."
Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2015 Feb;291(2):287-98.
[4] McPherson N, Fullston T, Aitken R, Lane M. "Paternal obesity, interventions, and mechanistic pathways to impaired health in offspring." Ann Nutr Metab. 2014;64(3–4):231–238
[5] Tomar A, Gomez-Velazquez M, Gerlini R et al. "Epigenetic inheritance of diet-induced and sperm-borne mitochondrial RNAs." Nature 2024 Jun;630:720-727
For example, one study showed that if a father experienced food scarcity during the years preceding puberty, his children had a 58% lower risk of dying of heart disease as adults. On the other hand, a study showed that the opposite was true – too much food and overeating resulted in a four-fold increased risk of mortality due to diabetes in grandchildren. The effect is multigenerational.[1]
The impact is not just based on how much future dads eat, but also which foods are consumed. A study of father rats showed that after 12 weeks of eating a high-fat diet, newborn daughter rats had a 30% reduction in pancreatic beta cell mass. Beta cells produce insulin. When those daughter rats became adults, they had a higher risk of glucose intolerance and lower plasma insulin levels.[2] Birthweight is lower for babies if the father has diabetes and/or eats fast food frequently.[3]
Additionally, data from over 3000 families showed that the father’s weight at conception had a significant influence on the weight of his children after factoring in the weight of the mother. Paternal obesity can also negatively impact neurological development. Researchers looked at data for 3759 single-birth children and 1062 twins and their parents. The risk of impaired social functioning, which includes issues like avoidance of interpersonal relationships and social isolation, increased if fathers were obese; and having two obese parents increased the likelihood of failing for several domains, including fine motor, personal-social, and problem solving.[4]
The mechanisms of action are known. Small RNA molecules in sperm, referred to as mitochondrial tRNA fragments, influence the inheritance of health traits through gene regulation.[5]
The bottom line: A father’s health pre-conception matters and has a profound influence on the health and life of his child. Today, most Americans are overweight and unhealthy, and getting fatter and sicker throughout their lifetimes. This is resulting in generations of increasingly unhealthy people who not only create a financial burden for all of us due to their increased healthcare needs, but also diminished quality of life and reduced lifespan for them.
[1] Kaati G, Bygren LO, Edvinsson S. "Cardiovascular and diabetes mortality determined by nutrition during parents and grandparents’ slow growth period." Eur J Hum Genet 2022 Oct;10:682-688
[2] De Castro Barbasa T, Ingerslev LR, Alm PS et al. "High-fat diet reprograms the epigenome of rat spermatozoa and transgenerationally affects metabolism of the offspring." Molec Metab 2016 mar;5(3):184-197
[3] Moss J, Harris K. "Impact of maternal and paternal preconception health on birth outcomes using prospective couples' data in Add Health."
Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2015 Feb;291(2):287-98.
[4] McPherson N, Fullston T, Aitken R, Lane M. "Paternal obesity, interventions, and mechanistic pathways to impaired health in offspring." Ann Nutr Metab. 2014;64(3–4):231–238
[5] Tomar A, Gomez-Velazquez M, Gerlini R et al. "Epigenetic inheritance of diet-induced and sperm-borne mitochondrial RNAs." Nature 2024 Jun;630:720-727
Wellness Forum Health, Pam Popper
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