A new study shows that women aren’t the only ones who pack on some extra pounds during pregnancy, as a new study has found that dads also put on baby weight, making the “dad-bod” a scientific fact.
The study found that new dads gained an average of 3.5 to 4.5 pounds, while men who did not have children tend to lose weight at an average of 1.4 pounds, ABC News reports.
In the study, which was published in the American Journal of Men’s Health, researchers followed more than 10,000 men who had their BMI measured four times from early childhood through their early 30s. The study found that the BMI of men who have children increased, even in dads who don’t live with their kids full time.
Although the weight gain differed for “resident dads” (men who live with their children) from those who don’t, reports the Chicago Tribune. Over the period of the study, first-time dads had an average 2.6 percent increase in their BMIs, while non-resident dads only experienced an increase of 2 percent.
This translates to a 4.4 pound weight gain for resident dads at 6 feet tall, and 3.3 pounds for a dad of the same height who doesn’t live with his children.
The affects of fatherhood on men can lead to serious health concerns. “The more weight the fathers gain and the higher their BMI the greater risk they have for developing heart disease as well as diabetes and cancer,” said Craig Garfield, MD, the study’s lead author and an associate professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Fatherhood can affect the health of young men, above the already known effect of marriage. The more weight the fathers gain and the higher their BMI, the greater risk they have for developing heart disease as well as diabetes and cancer.
In a unrelated study we reported on here at Immortal News, it was estimated that 40 percent of men in America are obese, while 30 percent of woman are overweight.
