Fertility falls as we get fatter
THE saying goes never work with animals or children, but this Geelong photographer missed the memo.
“I’ve heard that joke from everyone who’s come in for a photo,” said Riccardo Gentiluomo, who is creating a book filled with pictures of children and their dog.
Mr Gentiluomo is hoping to capture 100 raw moments between youngsters and their furry friends for his Tails of Geelong book, which doubles as a fundraiser for the RSPCA.
He is almost halfway there, snapping pugs, huskies, staffies and French bulldogs playing with their humans, and wants at least 50 more signed up by next month.
He said his trick to capturing the perfect moment was patience and perseverance.
“They don’t know what you want, the dog doesn’t know what you want, so the best way is letting them playy and catching the shot in between,” he said.
“You can bribe kids to a certain extent, but with dogs if you give them a treat all they want is another treat.”
Mr Gentiluomo hopes he can raise about $5000 for the RSPCA through the $49 photography fee from each client, who will be immortalised in the book along with a cute fact about the pair.
People can register on Mr Gentiluomo’s website at riccardo.com.au/dogs. AUSSIE men are becoming less fertile, with reproduction experts suggesting the nation’s obesity epidemic is to blame for the “significant” decline in sperm count rates.
A study has found the sperm count produced by Australian men and those across the Western world has fallen by up to 60 per cent over the past four decades.
Reproduction experts say reduced sperm concentration can affect conception rates, and the research should be a “wake-up call” for men to adopt more healthy lifestyles.
‘The most likely cause of this halving of sperm count is obesity,” said Flinders University reproductive medicine professor Kelton Tremellen.
The research, published in the Human Reproduction Update, analysed semen samples taken from 43,000 men including fathers across the globe between 1973 and 2011.
It found sperm counts had halved among Western men, unlike those from Africa and Asia, suggesting lifestyle and environmental factors had a role to play.
Researchers found a rising proportion of men had sperm counts below the threshold for infertility.
The research also found no signs of “levelling off”.