Fathers who Exercise Nurture Healthy Offspring, Even during Adulthood

Have Fun Together, Grow Fit Together

You learn the nuances of parenting and start becoming a versatile parent even before your child is conceived in the womb. Fathering a child is not restricted to grooming your kid into a mature adult, spending on your beloved children and investing for their future benefits. All these are beautiful gestures from your side as a dad, but they are of use only when the child grows up in a healthy way nurtured with all the required nutrients. To all the women who reprimand their husbands when they go to play a game of badminton or cricket on weekends, please don’t prevent them from doing so! Your husbands are not only enjoying their ‘me’ time with friends (I understand that its going to be frustrating for you thoroughly but alas we need to look at the benefits that outweigh anger) but are also preparing themselves for fathering a healthy child.
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Inside the Fetus
Its amazing to hear compliments from others when your child performs something exemplarily. Comments like ‘She sings just like you Rahul’ or ‘He has got the same face’ are heart-warming to hear. Genetic traits and inheritance play a pivotal role in each of our lives making us who we are. Nurture does change our approach to things and helps us evolve as better humans, but nature does equally define our growth. Hence, even before conception it is helpful for preparing in the best way possible to give birth to a healthy child.

A new study has shown that paternal exercise plays a prime role in defining the metabolic health of the offspring well into their adulthood. It talks about correcting health of the individual at the cellular level. Of late, there have been evidences piling up linking the existence of type 2 diabetes and decreasing metabolic health to poor diet intake and the major roles dad play in contributing towards obesity and metabolic changes of the offspring.

A team of researchers analyzed the father-offspring concept on a group of mice who were fed a normal diet or a high-fat diet for three weeks. A small group of mice from either group were sedentary while some exercised. These mice bred after three weeks and the offspring led a sedentary lifestyle eating a normal diet for a year. Results showed that:

• The group of mice which exercised had improved glucose metabolism, decreased body weight and a decreased fat mass.
• The group that ate a high-fat diet suffered from glucose intolerance
• Exercise lowered negative effects greatly. Dads who exercised while eating a high-fat diet witnessed improved metabolic health in their adult offspring
  
  

There have been studies previously showing that mother mouse that exercised produced offspring that has a beneficial metabolic effect. The next step is to probe whether both parents working out and eating a healthy lifestyle doubles the advantages of the offspring. There have been ample evidences showing that male obesity leads to greater risk of male infertility, decreased sperm production and sperm quality. There is even decrease in the number of live births. Exercising even a month before conception has a positive effect on the health of the sperm and improves metabolic health of the children too. Parents of childbearing age can get in touch with registered dietitian nutritionists at www.firsteatright.com to get healthy and stay fit to produce healthy offspring