Newborn’s health not just about mum

Men’s behaviour before conception is not normally considered in research on children’s health, but a new report says it can have an impact.

The evidence brief, Beyond Genes: How fathers play a biological role in the health of future generations, by Chloe Wilkinson, Dr Felicia Low and Sir Peter Gluckman looks at existing research into how men’s lifestyle can affect future children.

‘‘Although most research on the effect of environmental conditions on young children’s wellbeing has focused on pregnant women, we’re increasingly seeing that biological fathers may pass on health and disease risks via sperm,’’ said Wilkinson, research assistant at Koi Tu¯ : The Centre for Informed Futures.

The research was funded by the Wright Foundation as part of a series on maternal and child health.

Researchers found that the father’s health and lifestyle at conception – including weight, age, and smoking and drinking – could all have an impact on the health of the child.

With ‘‘concerning’’ alcohol use and rates of obesity in New Zealand, the report said a ‘‘significant proportion’’ of New Zealand fathers are at risk of affecting the health of their future children.

One implication of the research was that women should not bear the responsibility for the health of future children alone, Wilkinson said. ‘‘Wider awareness of the role both men and women play across generations is needed to help normalise shared responsibility for children’s health.’’

A child whose father was overweight around the time of conception has an increased likelihood of obesity, heart disease and diabetes. A Swedish historical study on food shortages showed that this effect could stretch across generations, and animal studies supported this, too. It was not yet clear why this correlation was seen, she said.

The age of the father was another important factor. Older fathers – 35 to 45 depending on the study – were associated with higher frequency of birth defects and more complicated pregnancies. Certain disorders are ‘‘so closely linked’’ to older fathers that they were known as ‘‘paternal age effect disorders’’, because of mutations in the sperm.

An increased likelihood of psychiatric disorders, especially autism and schizophrenia, was ‘‘well documented’’ in children of older fathers, the paper said.

The report noted ‘‘prevailing social discourse’’ had placed the responsibility on women for childbearing behaviours including what they eat and drink. Women were subject to ‘‘social disapproval’’ for having babies late in life.