New research proved one of the most popular topics of today - the "dad bod" is real. Backed by findings gathered from over 20 years of study, a researcher from Northwestern University revealed that men who become fathers typically gain weight throughout the child rearing years, according to News Medical.
Dr Craig Garfield, the lead author of the research, shared that men experience added pressure and stress on top of the adjustments required upon marriage. In an analysis of the data obtained from observing 10, 253 participants, the researcher disclosed that weight gain among fathers is inevitable. Garfield noted that this study, titled "Longitudinal Study of Body Mass Index in Young Males and the Transition to Fatherhood" and published in the American Journal of Men's Health, is one of the first attempts to determine the effects of fatherhood to a major biomarker of health - the Body Mass Index (BMI).
"Fatherhood can affect the health of young men, above the already known effect of marriage," disclosed Garfield who is an associate professor of pediatrics and of medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "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," added the lead author, who also serves as an attending physician at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.
Garfield points out that the weight gain among fathers stem from the habit of men to "clean their kids' plates after every meal." Given such phenomenon, the researcher noted that a 6-foot-tall man living with his child could gain roughly 4.4 pounds following his first experience of fatherhood. In contrast, a man of the same size who does not reside with his child put on an additional 3.3 pounds on his weight. The study notes that the "resident dads" experience a 2.6 percent increase in BMI while "non-resident dads" have 2 percent rise, according to Washington Post. Meanwhile, a 6-foot-tall man who is not a father experienced weight loss amounting to 1.4 pounds over the same time frame.
According to Garfield, the "dad bod" occurs due to a shift in the priorities in a man's life. He said, "You have new responsibilities when you have your kids and may not have time to take care of yourself the way you once did in terms of exercise." The author added, "Your family becomes the priority."
"We now realize the transition to fatherhood is an important developmental life stage for men's health," stated Garfield, referring to the effects of having a child to both parents. He added, "It's a magical moment where so many things change in a man's life. Now the medical field needs to think about how can we help these men of child-rearing age who often don't come to the doctor's office for themselves."
