Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Obesity and hypertension are big public health concerns. These conditions are established in early life and track into adulthood. A mother's health during pregnancy can influence disease development in their child. New evidence suggests that fathers' habits before conception may also play a role. We wanted to see if a fathers' diet before their child is born impacts the child's obesity and blood pressure at 8 years old. We studied 1694 families from the Canadian CHILD Cohort Study. Before their child was born, fathers did a survey about the foods they ate over the past year. When the children were 8 years old, we measured their height, weight, blood pressure, and other health indicators. We also looked at factors that could affect fathers' diet and child health, such as child sex, ethnicity, household income, and mother's health. Most of the fathers followed either a "Healthy" diet (with foods like vegetables, fruits, seafood, and legumes); or a "Western-like" diet (with foods like fast food, meat, pasta, and potatoes). When fathers followed the "Healthy" diet, their children had lower blood pressure and were less likely to have obesity at age 8. This finding was independent of factors that might influence the relationship. We also found that this association was influenced by the mother's weight during pregnancy. When mothers were normal weight or underweight during pregnancy, a father's "Healthy" diet was related to even lower blood pressure in the children. When the mothers had overweight or obesity, a father's "Healthy" diet was still protective against child obesity. These findings suggest that a fathers' diet before their child is born may influence their child's risk of obesity. Including fathers in preconception care, just like mother mothers, could be a strategy to improve the health of the next generation.