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Paternal obesity increased developmental disorder risk
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Paternal obesity could be a greater risk factor for developmental disorders among children than maternal obesity, according to recent study findings published in Pediatrics.
“We were very surprised by these findings because we expected that maternal obesity would be the main risk factors for the development of autism spectrum disorder (ASD),” PålSurén, MD, MPH, of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, said in a press release. “It means that we have had too much focus on the mother and too little on the father. This probably reflects the fact that we have given greater focus to conditions in pregnancy, such as the growth environment for the fetus in the womb than both environmental and genetic factors before conception.”
Surén and colleagues evaluated 92,909 children (mean age, 7.4 years) from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study to determine the associations between maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), paternal BMI, and the risk of ASDs in children.
Overall, 419 participants were diagnosed with ASDs, most commonly autistic disorder (n=162), followed by pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS; n=154) and Asperger disorder (n=103).
Twenty-two percent of mother and 43% of fathers were overweight and nearly 10% of both mothers and fathers were obese.
The development of an autism disorder had little associated with maternal obesity. However, the risk of offspring developing Asperger disorders was two times more likely if the father was obese compared with a normal weight father.
Researchers said that a genetic mutation may lead to the development and extreme obesity and autism.
“We have begun to sequence all genes to find mutations and we must do more epigenetic analysis,” Surén said. “If there is a correlation between obesity and ASD, this is a risk factor where the incidence is increasing in the population. Further research is therefore of great importance to the public health.”
Disclosure: See the study for a full list of disclosures.
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