A father's diet can directly affect his daughter's health, according to a study in rats published today (October 20) in Nature.
For the first time, researchers have demonstrated a purported epigenetic link between a father's high-fat diet and an increased risk of disease in his offspring -- in this case, diabetes. Numerous papers have shown that aspects of a mother's health, including her weight, can have a significant impact on her offspring, but few have shown the same effect on the paternal side.
"It really does bring the father into play," said Michael Skinner, a researcher at the Center for Reproductive Biology at Washington State University, who was not involved in the study.
"This outcome suggests that our predisposition toward disease can be affected by what our parents or grandparents consumed during key points in their development," Tracy Bale of the University of Pennsylvania said in an email. Bale, who ...
