We now know that through epigenetic modifications, the father's eating habits, or even his overweight or obesity, will influence the health of the unborn child. This study from the University of Ohio also suggests that men who want to have children consider exercising more often. The study, conducted on mice and presented in the journal Diabetes, indeed shows that paternal exercise also has a significant impact on the metabolic health of the offspring, and this until adulthood.
Recent studies have already linked the development of type 2 diabetes to impaired metabolic health and poor parental diet. Mounting evidence shows that fathers play an important role in obesity and in the metabolic programming of their offspring.
Here, the team studied the impact of a father's exercise program on the metabolic health of his offspring in a male mouse model fed for 3 weeks either a normal diet or a rich diet. in fats. Some mice in each diet group were sedentary and others exercised freely. After 3 weeks, the mice and their offspring were reassigned to a normal diet under sedentary conditions for one year. Experience shows that:
- adult offspring of exercised mice have better glucose metabolism, lower body weight, and lower fat mass;
- Beyond that, the children of males fed a high-fat diet have poorer results, including more marked glucose intolerance. However, exercise was able to neutralize this effect: this means that the offspring of a male fed a high-fat diet but allowed to exercise also benefit from this improvement in metabolic health in adulthood.
Exercise also leads to epigenetic or gene expression changes in the father's sperm and these changes suppress the harmful effects of too rich a diet and their transfer to the offspring. The researchers note a significant change in RNAs. However, they have yet to determine which particular RNAs are responsible for these metabolic improvements, where “it happens in the offspring” and why.
In fathers as well as in mothers: These benefits, obtained through the exercise of the father, have already been observed, by previous studies, with the practice of exercise in the mother. In this case, their offspring also exhibited these beneficial metabolic effects. So, what will be the effects if both parents practice the exercise?
However, these data still need to be validated in humans. “ We know that, in adult men, obesity decreases testosterone levels, sperm count and motility, and the number of live births, ” the researchers conclude. " If we recommend that a patient who is about to have a child exercise, even moderately and even a month before conception, it could have a significant effect on their sperm health and metabolic health at long term of his children .