Our
Western diet has been heavily criticized for some time. It tastes good, it is
cheap and fast, but too much of it and we don’t end up very fast ourselves. The
current big issue is childhood obesity and the risk that puts them in for
cardiovascular and type 2 diabetes problems.
A
new study from the UK of 1147 school children in the 11 – 13 age group by Brophy et
al hit the streets last week in an issue of the Public Library of Science
(1).
They
found that a third were overweight, but more worrying, 17% had high blood
pressure with 10% having high cholesterol values. Those from areas classified
as deprived were more at risk than those from more wealthy areas. That’s the
basic information, but the study prodded and poked a little more.
The
problems start for the youngsters at conception, apparently. It seems that
children born with a large birth-weight tended to be unfit and then more likely
to get significantly overweight which then led to elevated blood pressure etc.
The
other big risk factor is their father’s body mass index. Recall that once it
gets into the 30’s, your physician will start poking you and “tut-tutting” as
you’re standing there feeling vulnerable at your annual physical. So Dads need
to keep slim and trim if they are planning to have a family, otherwise it won’t
just be the family gold and jewels that they will be handing on, but the heart
medicine and the insulin injections too as it becomes like father like son.
Up
until now Dads have had a free pass when it comes to eating from conception on,
but no longer. They need to get to the gym and get into training for pregnancy and
beyond. They may end up with stretch marks, but for a different reason from
those of the mothers.
