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You Are What Your Dad Ate
Freshly Exhumed writes "What a father eats before his child is conceived may influence the chance a baby will be born with a birth defect, a new study suggests. Much of the focus on how diet relates to birth has been done on moms. A father's diet before conception plays a crucial role in the health of his offspring, researchers in Canada suggest. Sarah Kimmins, a researcher at McGill University in Montreal, said the study focused on vitamin B9, also known as folate, which is found in green leafy vegetables, cereal, fruit and meat. The researchers found that the mouse offspring of folate-deficient fathers had a 30 percent increased risk of birth defects, compared to those offspring who had received a sufficient amount of folate."
One of the primary ingredients in pre-natal vitamins is folate, because it is so important for the fetus. I wonder if this research indicates that fathers trying to conceive should also take pre-natal vitamins.
In fact, it's relatively rare that the father's role in birth defects is even considered by scientists...
FTFY. A lack of knowledge in this area is hardly surprising. A woman produces her eggs during puberty. A man produces his sperm daily. Ergo, day-to-day differences in a man's habits are likely to have a significant impact on his offspring.
We know that heavy drinking during early pregnancy is bad... but what about the man's drinking before conception? What about other drugs?