Papa bod? According to a study, men who exercise can transmit a healthier metabolism to their children

By: Dr. Colette Poole-Boykin

(NEW YORK) – Here's another reason for fathers to practice exercise: Sweating now could pay off later, in better health for your children, according to a new study.

Men who exercise before conception of their children could perhaps transmit to their children a predisposition to a healthier metabolism, even if the father generally consumes a high-fat diet, according to a published study in the journal Diabetes.

The promising findings, however, have a disadvantage: the study was conducted on mice.

More and more evidence shows that a father's health can also play an important role in the health of his offspring. Researchers at Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University, therefore, examined the impact of diet and exercise on the offspring of male mice.

The researchers found that mice on a high-fat diet without exercise had children who, at 52 weeks, were more likely to have higher body fat levels and problems with glucose transformation in the blood.

This combination of increased body fat and glucose problems can lead to the development of type 2 diabetes.

In a press release, Kristin Stanford, lead author of the study and a researcher in physiology and cell biology at the Medical Center, however, denied this effect.

"When the father did exercise, even with a high-fat diet, we found an improvement in the metabolic health of their adult offspring," she added.

Looking deeper, the researchers found that these changes were occurring at the genetic level.

Obesity is thought to cause genetic changes in the sperm of men, which can then be passed on to the offspring. These changes include a lower sperm count, sperm motility – their movement capacity – and their testosterone levels.

But for the mice who did the exercise, the researchers discovered genetic changes that effectively protected the offspring of the poor diet.

So, if lifestyle changes could have a positive impact on your kids before you had them, would you be more motivated to work and eat well, is not it?

"It's possible that this translates to humans. We know that in adult men, obesity lowers testosterone levels, sperm count and motility, and decreases the number of live births, "Stanford said.

"If we ask someone who is preparing to have a child to exercise moderately, even a month before conception, this could have a significant effect on the health of their sperm and about the long-term metabolic health of their children, "she added.

That said, more research is needed in this area. For now, it's important to keep in mind that your decisions about your health today could affect the health of your children tomorrow.

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