A father's diet 'plays key role in children's heath' before they're even born

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A father's diet plays a key role in their children's health even before they've been conceived, according to a new study.Researchers have found that what a dad eats may develop anxiety in his sons and the metabolic health of his daughters.

A study on mice showed that the nutrient balance in the diet of males can affect the level of anxious behaviour of their sons as well as the metabolism of their daughters.Experts have said that this discovery - published in the journal Nature Communications - has provided a major step in development towards knowing how the effect of your diet can transmit from one generation the next via a father's sperm.The scientists believe this could ultimately lead to dietary guidelines for dads-to-be - with the sole aim of lowering the risk of mood disorders and metabolic disease in the younger generation.Researchers have already discovered that the diet of a mouse father can have an impact on his own reproductive health as well as that of his offspring.

Over or under-feeding male mice can affect their children's behaviour and metabolism - as well as their risk of cancer.But it was not clearly understood if the make-up of a male mouse's diet before conception had an impact on the well-being of their children.An international team of researchers fed male mice one of 10 diets differing in the proportions of protein, fats, and carbohydrates at the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre in Australia.The mice were allowed to mate with females reared on a standard diet, then researchers studied the behaviour and physiology of the resulting pups.They discovered that male mice fed low protein and high carb diets were more likely to have male offspring with higher levels of anxiety, as measured by