Researchers from Northwestern Medicine (USA) studied Body Mass Index (BMI) of 10,253 participants surveyed at four key points in life: early and late adolescence as well as ages 25 and 35 and at the time of fatherhood.
“Very few studies have investigated the links between fatherhood and weight gain,” explains Craig Garfield, from the Department of Pediatrics and Allied Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and author of the study.
Women are often warned of the risk of weight gain during pregnancy and after childbirth, but men are rarely alerted that this new family situation can also change their weight and increase their waistline.
The conclusions of this study reveal that a young father of about 1.80m tall living with his child takes about 2kg while the same individual living without his offspring also takes 1.5kg.
This corresponds to an increase of 2.6% and 2% respectively in the Body Mass Index of young dads.
Conversely, men 1.80m tall who have not yet had children would have lost an average of 600g over the same period.
“The findings of this study should encourage health professionals to design interventions to prevent obesity and weight gain in young men who wish to have children,” concludes Craig Garfield.
Read also:
Men also suffer from pregnancy symptoms
Men want to start a family before women
Elderly dad, mental health risk affected
