The Fatty Sins of the Fathers…
February 14, 2012 by Cade 
4 Comments
I don’t think we realize how impactful our health choices are to our children.
We tell them not to swear, but then offer a pound of JuJuBe Candy. (I loved those bad boys so much)
Does the health habits of the fathers and mothers make life harder for their children?
Well not only can our decisions impact them when they are living, but also long before they enter this earth. You can throw in grandchildren, their children, and anyone else.
This study at Real Clear Science suggests that the high impact of obesity in our society has led to gradual genetic alterations that will make us more susceptible to diseases like adiposity, risk of cardiovascular disease and impaired glucose metabolism.
While this study was done with lab rats, this is what is mentioned, “There is already evidence that epigenetic transgenerational inheritance can also occur in humans in response to food supply and smoking. Nevertheless, until the epigenetically changeable targets in humans are defined, it will not be possible to determine if such associations are directly mediated by epigenetic changes…”
This was shown in a University of Pennsylvania study and also another recent study by University of New South Wales in Sydney that was mentioned in NPR. John Hopkins professor of medicine and molecular biology, Andy Feinberg, said something that was very telling, “”In a way it’s saying the metabolic sins of the father can be visited on the daughters, even if the daughters haven’t been conceived yet,”
These studies were done only on lab rats which means it doesn’t prove it happens in humans, but let’s be honest. Are you really thinking poor eating is ever going to help your kids whether born or unborn?
Our Biggest Impact As Parents
There is probably no other way that we impact our children more than how healthy we live our life.
There are a lot of conflicting studies that show that people form their habits more from their peers, than their parents. Malcolm Gladwell talks about this in his book The Tipping Point. He hypothesizes that the addiction of smoking is usually picked up because of admiration of a peer, which tends to be more powerful than any parental advice.
While I don’t condone being a terrible parent or say we should give up teaching kids morals, it is important to put our health into perspective in the equation of being a solid parent.
Eating healthy may be the biggest way we can positively influence our children’s lives that are yet to come. That is pretty sobering when you think about those JuJuBes and what that means to your kids or by letting your kids eat crap food and what that will do to their kids.
So what about the ten kids I already have had? Well we can still influence them by what we buy and put in the cupboard. We see great examples of this at websites like Everday Paleo. Robb Wolf talks about this specifically when it comes to teaching kids how to eat a healthy diet. And yes…they will get all the nutrients they need with a diet like the Paleo diet.
What are your thoughts? Does what you eat and how you exercise weigh as much on your mind as something like smoking or drinking?
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Great article Cade! I really hate to be Captain Obvious here, but you hit the nail on the head. My father was overweight as a kid and hated exercise so much that he dropped out of high school because of the physical education requirement (never understood that). He lost the weight before I was born, however, so I never knew my dad to be fat. But still, his idea of healthy was (and still is, unfortunately) getting his bacon cheeseburger as a single (instead of a double) and of course a DIET coke. How he is not currently overweight is beyond me. As a child, I remember my after school snack was hot cheetos and a strawberry soda. I’m surprised I don’t have diabetes, but my unhealthy lifestyle reached its peak when, at the age of 16, I was 5’6” and 230 pounds! I’m happy to say that I lost that weight, but did it rather unhealthily: by starving myself. Needless to say, my weight yo-yo’ed for many years until about 4 years ago, I just decided to completely change my eating habits. I’m getting ready to graduate college now and I’m in the best shape of my life, I work out at least 3 days a week and I eat SUPER healthy. But it has been a challenge. I don’t mean to shove this on my father, but he definitely could have encouraged me to be a little more active and eat something green once in a while. Anyways, my kids will probably hate me when I put carrot sticks in their lunch bags instead of potato chips, but they’ll love me for it when they’re older.
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Eric. Awesome story. Love to hear success stories like that. I agree starvation can not only be unhealthy, but it is hard to sustain. We have to learn how to eat the right foods with some will power it will make all the difference. I am sure you are going to be a great dad and your kids will appreciate it. Have you ever talked with your dad about this to try to help him?
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Eric Reply:
April 23rd, 2012 at 4:43 PM
Honestly, I have not spoken to him directly about this, but I have 2 younger sisters who are, unfortunately, following down that same path. I see that they are overweight for their height. Of course, this is a very sensitive subject, because I don’t want to hurt their feelings and make the situation worse: when overweight people get hurt or depressed, they just eat more. So your advice about talking with my dad may be my best avenue. If I can get him to see that his daughters’ health is at stake, maybe he will become willing to make a few changes for their sake. It’s worth a try. Thanks Cade! Awesome site, by the way, wish I would’ve found it earlier.
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