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You Are What Your Dad Ate

Posted by timothy on from the manner-of-speaking dept.

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."

4 of 130 comments (clear)

  1. How does one end up with a B9 deficiency, anyway? by TWiTfan · · Score: 3, Interesting

    which is found in green leafy vegetables, cereal, fruit and meat.

    So, in pretty much EVERYTHING then?

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  2. Diet usually indicates lifestyle by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I wouldn't panic.

    If your dad was a hobo or only ate bratwurst, I might worry, but otherwise you're getting in a panic for no reason.

    Diet for males is also code in health study for marital status and stability. Both of which highly affect birth outcomes.

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  3. Controlled for MOM's folate? by n1ywb · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'd like to know if they controlled for the MOTHER's folate level. Afterall, if the mom and dad live together and eat a similar diet, and HE's deficient, it stands to reason that the mom is probably deficient also. None of TFA's seem to talk about it.

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  4. Re:How does one end up with a B9 deficiency, anywa by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The problem is that people simply don't think about the fathers input. Sperm health is very dependent on diet. We have known this for at least centuries, and have come up with diets to improve the health long before we could see the things in a microscope.

    The difference is obviously that the man's diet plays very little role in the health of the baby after conception.

    The same can be said to some degree with diets in general. Eating right leads to better health. Eating crap leads to illness, obesity, etc... Seems like somehow in the last few decades people forgot about how important eating right is and how much your daily health can be impacted by your diet.