Overweight teenage boys risk damaging their genes and increasing the chance of their future children being born with a range of conditions.
Researchers from the United Kingdom’s University of Southampton and the University of Bergen in Norway made the discovery during a study into the biological mechanism behind the impact of fathers’ early teenage obesity on their children.
Lead author Negusse Kitaba, from the University of Southampton, said they identified epigenetic changes in over 2000 sites in 1962 genes linked with the formation of fat cells and fat metabolism in the children of fathers who gained weight as teenagers.
Dr Kitaba said these changes in the way DNA was packaged in cells regulated how genes were switched on and off and were associated with asthma, obesity and lung function.
He said the effect was more pronounced in female children than male children, with different genes involved.
“The overweight status of future fathers during puberty was associated with a strong signal in their children’s DNA which were also related to the likelihood of their children being overweight themselves.
“Early puberty, when boys start their developing sperm, seems to be a key window of vulnerability for lifestyle influences to drive epigenetic changes in future offspring.”
Professor Cecilie Svanes, from the University of Bergen, said the new findings had significant implications for public health.
“They suggest that a failure to address obesity in young teenagers today could damage the health of future generations, further entrenching health inequalities for decades to come.”
Read the full paper: Father’s adolescent body silhouette is associated with offspring asthma, lung function and BMI through DNA methylation.
