Father's Healthy Weight Avoids Cancer Risk in Children

A father's health, particularly his weight, can predict a child's well-being. Explaining this point, a new study finds that obesity in fathers puts their children at a higher risk of many deadly diseases, including cancer.

Previous studies have shown that following a healthy diet and maintaining a healthy weight during pregnancy is crucial for having a healthy baby. However, little was known about the impact of the father's excess fat on his child's health.

"Understanding the risks of the current Western lifestyle on future generations is important," lead author of the study, Dr. Adelheid Soubry, said in a news release. "The aim of this study was to determine potential associations between obesity in parents prior to conception and epigenetic profiles in offspring, particularly at certain gene regulatory regions."

Analyzing this point, Dr. Soubry and colleagues from Duke Medicine found the obesity of the father leading to alterations in the genetic mechanisms in his children.

The findings of the study are based on an investigation conducted by researchers on families that were part of the Newborn Epigenetics Study (NEST). DNA samples from the umbilical cords of nearly 80 newborns were collected. Researchers analyzed the DNA methylation patterns at the insulin-like growth factor (IGF2) gene that controls many genes. A decrease in the levels of methylation has been known as a risk factor of many cancers.

Through medical records and questionnaires, the researchers collected details about the parents. At the end of the analysis, researchers found children of obese fathers having very low levels of methylation at the IGF2 gene compared to children of healthy fathers.

"This study is an important start in looking at the effects of environmental exposure on children, not only through the mother but also through the father," Soubry said. "Although we cannot define at this point which obesity-related factor may cause an epigenetic effect, we measured in this study a significant association between paternal obesity and aberrant methylation profiles in the offspring."

The results of the study have been published in BMC Medicine.