A child born to an elderly father is more likely to have health problems than a newborn born to a young father. Risks to consider when deciding to start a family.
After Pink October, dedicated to women’s health and more specifically to raising awareness of breast cancer screening, the month of November is dedicated to men’s health. Awareness that has a name, Movemberand a distinction, the mustache.
Father’s age matters
Although men live shorter on average than women (6 years apart), they become fathers later and later. In the United States, the percentage of births to a father over 40 has doubled since 1970, to 9%. This is not without consequences for the health of the future baby, as revealed by a study conducted by researchers at Stanford University in California and published in the British Medical Journal.
For a long time, women have been encouraged not to postpone motherhood beyond their 40s because of the risks to themselves and their babies. But it seems that the age of the father also has an impact on the health of the child.
The health of the newborn more fragile when the age of the father is advanced
For their study, the researchers analyzed data from 40,529,905 births that occurred in the United States between 2007 and 2016 to examine the impact of father’s age on infant health. They found that the higher the father’s age, the greater the health risks for the newborn: premature birth, low birth weight or fragile health.
After controlling for other parameters (mother’s age, maternal smoking, education, and number of prenatal visits), children of fathers aged 45 or older were born slightly earlier and their likelihood of being preterm ( less than 37 weeks) is 14% higher compared to those whose father was aged 25 to 34.
Risks to consider before starting a family
Additionally, children of fathers aged 45 and over were born 20.2g lighter and have a 14% higher risk of being underweight (less than 2500g) at birth than infants of younger fathers. . They are also 14% more likely to be admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit and 18% more likely to have seizures than children of fathers aged 25 to 34. Children whose father is over 55 often have poorer results on the Apgar test, used to quickly assess a child’s state of health at birth.
“The risks associated with advancing paternal age should be taken into account in the decision to have a child as well as in the advice given to families regarding reproduction,” write the authors of the study.
Consequences also for pregnant women
Furthermore, the risk of gestational diabetes in pregnant women increases with the age of the father. Women pregnant with a man 55 or older have a 34% higher chance of getting gestational diabetes. In addition, about one in five cases of gestational diabetes (18%) is due to the advanced age of the father. They suggest that changes in the sperm of older men could explain these results.
However, the researchers emphasize that this is an observational study. Thus, no definitive conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect. They add that one cannot exclude the possibility that some unmeasured effects of older fathers associated with older mothers may exist. However, this study highlights the need to take into account the factor of the father’s age in preconception care and the need to further investigate the implications for public health of the increase in paternal age.
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