By Dr Tim Moss
Around 90% of Australian males become Fathers. That makes fatherhood for Australian men more likely than driving a car, finishing high school or working full-time. Despite the high probability of eventually becoming a dad, there’s not a lot of education and support provided to prepare boys and men for this critical role. This means we miss opportunities to fully include fathers in the shared responsibility of parenthood and perhaps deny them the chance to make positive contributions
to the lives of their children.
There’s a long list of health issues that affect men before they become fathers: which can affect their fertility, their partners’ pregnancy and the health of their children. Men and boys deserve to know about these things so they can begin to take responsibility for the wellbeing
of their future children.
Age
A father’s age doesn’t have as much of an effect on fertility as a mother’s age but it’s still important.
A couple’s chances of getting pregnant start to decline once fathers are in their late 30s, and the infertility rate for couples goes up as the male partner’s age increases over about 40.
A father’s age also influences the outcome of his partner’s pregnancy, with higher rates of stillbirth and preterm birth for fathers aged over 40 years compared to younger fathers.
There’s a slightly stronger effect of a father’s increased age on the increased likelihood of their children being diagnosed with autism or schizophrenia.
There’s no proven way to reverse these effects of aging, which are caused by changes to the DNA in sperm that accumulate over time. However, it is possible to avoid the things that cause these types of changes.
In Australia, the average age of first-time fathers is 33 years. By this age, more than 98% of Australian males do not eat enough fruit and vegetables each day, 60% do not do enough physical activity, more than half are overweight or obese, almost half drink alcohol at risky levels, and 10-15% smoke tobacco or vape.
Diet
A diet that is high in fat and sugar, and low in fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, fish and dairy, is associated with low sperm quality, which has negative effects on fertility.
Fathers who have unhealthy diets before conception are more likely to have children with obesity and metabolic disease than fathers with healthy diets.
Obesity
Obesity reduces male fertility. When conception does occur, the risk of preterm birth is increased and negative effects on child health are more common than for fathers without obesity. Rates of type 2 diabetes are higher for men with obesity than for men with a healthy weight, and diabetes increases the risk of infertility and pregnancy loss for their partners.
Physical activity
Men who are not sufficiently physically active have reduced fertility and are at risk of being overweight or obese, and developing type 2 diabetes. Very high levels of physical activity (e.g. training for marathon or triathlon) are also associated with lower fertility, but most men do not achieve these levels of physical activity. Getting 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise (enough to get your heart rate up and feel a bit puffed) each day and doing strengthening exercises twice a week is what’s recommended to maintain good health.
Alcohol and tobacco
Children’s health can be negatively affected by the consumption of alcohol and tobacco use. Smoking by fathers before conception is also associated with reduced fertility, and higher rates of birth defects and low birth weight in their children.
Mental health
The children of men who have depression before their partner’s pregnancy have rates of mental illness and developmental delay (communication, reading, social behaviour) that are higher than expected. Depression before conception also affects engagement with children after they’re born.
Everybody’s ability to make changes to their lives to improve their health is different. There might be limits due to finances or time constraints. Many men’s priorities shift as they begin to think about having kids. It may seem more important to put in extra hours at work to secure their job than to take time each day to exercise. It might not even occur to some men that the things they are doing are having a negative effect on their health, let alone the health of their future children.
If you think you might be a dad one day, you should know that it’s never too early to start taking responsibility for the health of your children, by taking responsibility for your own health.
A good first step is to check in with your doctor. Ask to be given a check-up if it’s been a while since you had one. Ask what you can do to be as healthy as possible, so that you can be the best dad possible when the time comes.
Listen to Healthy Male’s ‘Dad Starts Now’ podcast at healthymale.org.au/projects/podcast