Association Between Paternal Comorbidities and Offspring Obesity
There is a significant association between paternal comorbidities and childhood obesity, with paternal cardiovascular health status and obesity being particularly strong determinants of offspring weight status. 1
Paternal Influence on Offspring Obesity
- Paternal obesity is independently associated with increased risk of childhood obesity, though this association is generally weaker than maternal obesity 2, 3
- Fathers with ideal BMI, non-smoking status, and absence of hypertension and diabetes have offspring with significantly lower prevalence of overweight and obesity 1
- Each additional ideal cardiovascular health factor in fathers is associated with a 30% lower prevalence of overweight and obesity in their children 1
- Children whose fathers met all six ideal cardiovascular health factors had 67% lower prevalence of overweight and obesity compared to children whose fathers had poor cardiovascular health 1
Mechanisms of Paternal Influence
Paternal obesity influences offspring body size through multiple pathways:
- Genetic factors - obesity appears to be polygenic with a complex interaction involving at least 250 obesity-associated genes 4
- Epigenetic alterations - metabolic changes due to paternal overweight/obesity affect epigenetic markers in sperm that may influence programming during embryogenesis 5
- Shared environmental factors - family dietary patterns and physical activity behaviors 4, 1
Even in the absence of offspring obesity, children of obese fathers show altered biomarker profiles:
Comparative Strength of Maternal vs. Paternal Influence
- Maternal obesity has a stronger influence on offspring BMI than paternal obesity, particularly:
- Mother-child associations for BMI (r=0.27) are significantly stronger than father-child associations (r=0.23), even after adjustment for potential non-paternity 3
- However, having two obese parents presents the highest risk, with an odds ratio of 12.0 for child obesity compared to having two normal-weight parents 3
Clinical Implications
- Parental obesity represents a modifiable risk factor for childhood obesity 1, 5
- Prevention strategies should shift from focusing solely on maternal health to including paternal health before conception 5
- The risk of T1D is higher in children born to fathers versus mothers with T1D due to differential inheritance of risk alleles and paternal imprinting (an epigenetic phenomenon) 4
- Paternal obesity could be used to target preventive interventions in the preschool years to avoid serious adverse effects on children's future health 3
Prevention Strategies
- Weight reduction in overweight/obese men who plan to become fathers is advisable to improve offspring outcomes 5
- However, rapid weight loss in close proximity to conception might increase undesirable offspring outcomes due to nutritional deficits affecting sperm quality 5
- Improving dietary quality rather than focusing solely on weight loss may be more beneficial for pre-conception paternal health 5
- Obesity prevention programs should involve both parents, as parental adherence to ideal cardiovascular health is strongly associated with lower prevalence of pediatric overweight and obesity 1
Cautions and Considerations
- The relationship between paternal comorbidities and offspring obesity is complex and involves multiple biological pathways 6
- The effects of paternal obesity may vary depending on the child's age, with stronger associations emerging as children grow older 3
- Associations between paternal health and offspring obesity are similar for both sons and daughters 3
- Prevention efforts should focus on the family unit rather than individual interventions, as having two obese parents dramatically increases offspring obesity risk (OR: 22.3 for severely obese parents) 3