The Child's Health Also Depends On The Father's Nutrition

Author: Leticia Celentano Time for reading: ~2 minutes Last Updated: August 08, 2022

The Child's Health Also Depends On The Father's Nutrition

The high-calorie diet in men, rich in fat, damages the DNA of their gametes, which has a detrimental effect on the health of generations to come.

Type 2 diabetes in men, which develops as a result of obesity as a result of a high-calorie diet with a predominance of fat, damages the DNA of sperm, and the disease is likely to be embedded and manifest in their offspring, according to scientists from Margaret's team Morris from the University of South Wales in Australia.

For their study, the researchers were provoked by the observation of their colleague, pediatrician Sheu-Fan NG, who noted that the parents of overweight people also suffer from excess weight. According to the journal Nature, the current clinical study by the Australian team may explain the global obesity epidemic over the past decade.

It has long been known that improper diet of a pregnant woman affects the health of the unborn child. However, it is more challenging for the team to see if the father's predisposition to obesity can also affect the health of his generation.

To do this, they conducted an experiment in which experienced male mice were fed only human food such as that offered in fast food restaurants, as a result of which most of them develop diabetes when they reach sexual maturity.

Although they maintain the correct proportions of their body, the researchers found that with high blood sugar, the body of these mice does not produce enough insulin. It turns out that the cells of the pancreas that synthesize this hormone have abnormal genetic activity.

The team noted that most of the mice were underweight at birth, which is also a sign of a predisposition to obesity in adulthood, and that mice whose mothers have been more prone to being overweight malnutrition during pregnancy. The same effect, albeit to a lesser extent, is transmitted by the father, they are adamant.

The main hypothesis of the team for this dependence is that the damaged structure of DNA in germ cells is transmitted - to its structure there is the addition of additional fragments, methyl groups, which change the functions of genes. A similar mechanism is thought to occur in humans.
However, this certainly means that a man's diet affects not only his own health, but also the condition of a generation to come, said Michael Skinner, a geneticist at the University of Washington.

According to him, such changes in the DNA structure of germ cells can be found in smoking, exposure to toxic influences, pesticides in food and others. "We need to stop thinking that every disease is genetically set and due to genetic abnormalities. Genetic changes are the result of human activity and I think the root cause of high morbidity of the population, including obesity and diabetes, should be sought here. Skinner continues his interpretation.

The Child's Health Also Depends On The Father's Nutrition

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