Obese Fathers Can Pass Predisposition of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders to their Children
If your father is obese at the time of conception, you might get his blue eyes and blonde hair, but you can get more other characteristics, like a wider than desired waistline and an increased risk of developing metabolic disorders, such as diabetes. This is true most frequently in daughters, but their sons also have an increased risk of developing metabolic disorders, such as diabetes.
Dr. Tod Fullston, a researcher involved in the work from the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the Robinson Institute, Research Centre for Reproductive Health at the University of Adelaide in South Australia, stated after the results of a study show that: “If these findings hold true in humans, then a father’s diet and body composition at the time of conception is likely to affect his future child’s health and risk of lifelong disease…Father’s should aim to be as healthy as possible at the time of conception to give future generations the best possible chance of good health.”
The study Fullston ran involved he and his colleagues using two groups of male mice. One group was fed a high fat diet that resembled a fast food diet, and the other group was fed a nutritious control diet.
The group of mice using the fast food diet did not fare as well as the group fed a nutritious control diet, although the fast food group gained weight and had an increase in fat (obesity) but without any indications of diabetes.
Both groups of mice (the fast food group of mice and the nutritious control diet) mice were then mated to normal weight nutritious control diet female mice to produce first generation mice to produce the second generation of mice. The results were that both generations of mouse offspring had metabolic disorders and obesity, with the only difference being their father’s/grandfather’s diet, although male/female offspring had different health problems.
The RNA molecules in sperm from the obese mice were compared to the sperm of the control mice, and researchers concluded that changes in these molecules might be partly responsible for the transmission of these health conditions from father to offspring. The study suggests that diet changes the molecular makeup of sperm, which in turn, program embryos and their risk of metabolic and reproductive health problems. This study also suggests that these adverse health outcomes may be transmitted into the second generation as well.
Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor in Chief of the FASEB Journal stated: “We’ve known for quite some time that obesity is a serious problem for children of expectant mothers, and now we see that obesity is likely a serious problem for children of obese fathers as well. Hopefully as more research emerges to support these findings, future fathers will find ways to slim down, if not for themselves, then for their children and grandchildren.”