It's not just mums who need to think about diet before conceiving

New research has found that a father’s diet plays a critical role in the health of his children.

 

According to the Canadian study, the sperm carries a “memory” of the dad’s lifestyle which is transferred to his offspring.  

 

The research looked at the importance of folic acid in preventing brain and spine defects and while women are already advised to take supplements it looks like men may have to consider their own intake of the vitamin.

 

Dr. Kimmins of McGill University in Montreal compared mice born to a father deficient in folic acid to those whose father had normal levels. The findings showed that there was an “increased incidence of birth defects” in the mice born to males low in the vitamin.

 

The study was published in the journal Nature Communications and says: “Lots of attention has been paid to a mother’s health pre-conception yet the health of the father has been pretty much ignored. Because men have their fertility through their life, they think they are good to go at any time and the focus has been on women because they are the incubators of the pregnancy.”

 

Experts involved in the study advise men, who are starting a family, to increase their consumption of green, leafy vegetables. Allan Pacey, a male fertility expert from Sheffield University, doesn’t want men running out and buying supplements but suggests that they consider what they eat, smoke and drink.