A typical 6-foot-tall man who lives with his child gains an average of 4.4 pounds after becoming a father for the first time – and a 6-foot-tall father who does not live with his first child gained about 3.3 pounds, according to the Northwestern University study. Their body mass index creeps up by about 2.6 per cent.
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But a 6-foot (180 meters) man who does not have children typically loses about 1½ pounds (700 grams) over the same time period, researchers found.
By contrast, the average 6-foot-tall man in this group who was not a father actually lost 1.4 pounds over the same time period.
But as lead author Dr. Craig Garfield explains, “You have new responsibilities when you have your kids and may not have time to take care of yourself the way you once did in terms of exercise.” Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, in a news release.
The study accounted for “fatherhood status” over the years-whether the subjects became fathers and if so, whether they were “resident fathers” living with their children or “nonresident fathers”, living apart from their children.
Garfield said big changes in a man’s lifestyle and health habits are the leading causes of weight gain. Participants were categorized as non-fathers, fathers, or non-resident fathers.
More information regarding the findings can be seen via the American Journal of Men’s Health.
The study had controlling factors that may also influence weight gain in men, including age, race, education, income, daily activity and screen time. “Your family becomes the priority”.
The pie-filled silver lining to these results, according to Garfield, is that fatherhood can provide more opportunities for medical providers to come into contact with young adult men, who are notoriously resistant to seeing a doctor regularly. “Having kids around changes not only the food in the house and what is available to you for meal, but also for snacks”. Afterward, researchers examined each participant’s BMI at each point and took the average of all those measurements to determine whether their fatherhood status was associated with BMI.
‘New dads are coming into the health care system as a paediatric chaperone, ‘ he said. A dad himself, Garfield said his weakness is finishing his kids’ leftover cheese pizza. This is a key time for pediatricians to counsel fathers, who often don’t have their own doctors.
“We now realize the transition to fatherhood is an important developmental life stage for men’s health”, added Garfield.
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A recent trend appreciating larger physiques in younger men is not necessarily a good thing.
