Why fatherhood makes most men fat

Study examines association between paternity and weight gain
Men often gain weight when they become fathers. This is evidenced by a large-scale study by Northwestern University. According to this, the average man living with his child, with a body height of 1.80 meters, takes on average about 2.2 kilograms after becoming a father. For fathers who do not live with their children, the weight gain is on average around 1.6 kilograms. In contrast, the researchers found in men who are not yet fathers, in the same period of observation, a weight loss of about 0.7 kilograms. Study leader Craig Garfield cites as the reason for fathers' weight gain the changed priorities of fatherhood.

Fathers have more responsibility and set different priorities
As part of the study, Garfield and his team documented weight development from adolescent men to adulthood. The influence of other factors that could promote weight gain, such as age, race, income, education, social status, and partnership, was attempted to keep researchers as low as possible.

Fatherhood makes you fat. Picture: Gelpi -fotolia

It has long been known that marriage often leads to weight gain in men. Paternity seems to reinforce this effect. The main cause, according to researchers, is the changing lifestyle and new eating habits. "You have new responsibilities when you have children and you can not take care of yourself anymore, for example, with fitness exercises like before. The family becomes a priority, "says Garfield. Regarding the new eating habits, he says: "We all know the fathers who eat the leftovers of their children."

The study covers a period of 20 years in which the weight of all 10,253 participants was measured and documented at four different times: early adolescence, late adolescence, mid-20s and early 30s. The Body Mass Index (BMI) was also recorded.

Garfield and his team warn fathers especially against the health consequences of being overweight. "The more weight the fathers gain and the higher their BMI, the greater their risk of getting heart disease, diabetes or cancer," says the expert. His conclusion: "We have now found that the transition to fatherhood is an important evolutionary step for men. Now medicine has to think about how to help these men, because in most cases they do not go to the doctor on their own. "(Ag)