Most overweight babies have fat fathers, hospital study reveals
MOST overweight babies born in Ireland's busiest maternity hospital have fat fathers. Previously, overweight mothers have been blamed for the rise in larger newborn babies.
The numbers of obese women giving birth has doubled over the past 20 years at the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital in Dublin. But doctors there have discovered there is also a direct link between the weight of the father and his baby.
According to health experts, approximately one in seven fathers can be categorised as obese.
Dr Nadine Farah, from the UCD Centre of Reproduction at the Coombe, said: "Approximately half the women attending our antenatal classes were either overweight or obese, which is quite alarming.
"But then we did another study where we looked at the fathers, because we thought it was a neglected area. We found that the majority of fathers of children who are overweight or obese are overweight or obese themselves."
According to Dr Farah, 60pc of obese women plan their pregnancy.
And men who wish to father a child for the first time have been warned that they are less likely to be as successful as their slim counterparts, as the excess pounds are damaging their sperm count.
Pregnant
But she urged both partners to make efforts to lose weight before getting pregnant, insisting that an effective weight-loss programme increases the chances of fertility for both.
She stressed that being overweight not only fuelled a major barrier in starting a family, but also put the parents and their unborn baby at serious risk of illness.
"For men, being overweight affects fertility, because it affects the sperm count."
A recent survey at the Coombe found that 43pc of mothers were overweight, with 13pc of those obese.
Dr Farah said overweight mums faced a higher risk of developing medical problems during pregnancy, such as diabetes, and were more likely to have to have a C-section when giving birth.
She also said the recovery rate for fat mothers was slower and that they were less likely to be as successful at breastfeeding.
Dr Farah argued that the tradition of mothers "feeding for two" -- to ensure their unborn babies received plenty of nourishment -- was wrong.
She added that a healthy diet, including fruit and vegetables, along with cutting down on sugar, fat and salt, should be followed.
"They're not supposed to be eating for two. Pregnancy is not a time to diet, it's a time to eat healthily -- but not for two."
- Nick Bramhill
Irish Independent
