Most parents know that the diet and exercise habits of a pregnant woman impacts the health of her baby, but little is known about how a father’s health choices are passed to his children. A new study by researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center finds that lifestyle practices of fathers prior to conception may have a major impact on the lifelong health of their children.
Most parents know that the diet and exercise habits of a pregnant woman impacts the health of her baby, but little is known about how a father’s health choices are passed to his children. A new study by researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center finds that lifestyle practices of fathers prior to conception may have a major impact on the lifelong health of their children.
“Even a month or so of moderate exercise before conception can have major benefits to his children’s metabolic health,” said Kristin Stanford, PhD, an assistant professor of physiology and cell biology at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center who led the study. “Those benefits include lower body weight, increased insulin sensitivity and decreased fat mass.”
Researchers studied groups of male mice on both normal and high-fat diets, and they found that those who exercised freely had offspring with better metabolic health. The sedentary male mice fed a high-fat diet passed along traits of poor metabolic health and higher glucose intolerance.
Read more at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
Image: Matt Hurt shows his five-year-old son how to swing a baseball bat. A new study suggests that fathers can give their children a genetic head start on a healthy metabolism by exercising prior to conception. (Credit: The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center)
