Grandpa's Diet Affects Grandkids' Health
Oct. 30, 2002 -- It may seem unfair, but what your granddad ate as a youngster could come back to haunt you.
Researchers found that if a man ate too much as a kid, his grandchildren are much more likely to die of diabetes and heart disease. But if he survived a famine or food shortage in his youth, he may end up protecting his grandchildren from diabetes and heart disease.
Researchers say the study shows that a person's eating habits during the pre-pubescent "slow-growth" period can affect their descendants' risk of dying from common diseases like diabetes and heart disease. And this nutrition-based risk factor seems to be passed down through generations by men.
The study appears in November's issue of the European Journal of Human Genetics.
Swedish researchers collected information on the cause of death of 239 people who were born in 1890, 1905, or 1920 in a small village in northern Sweden. They then used historical data to determine what kind of access to food the parents' and grandparents' of these individuals had during their childhood.
The study found that a person's risk of dying from diabetes was four times higher if their paternal grandfather had an excess of food during the pre-pubescent period. But if the paternal grandfather lived through a famine during this period, his grandchildren tended to be protected from diabetes.
Researchers also found that the risk of death from heart disease was reduced if the father or paternal grandmother were exposed to a famine during the slow-growth period.
Researchers say it's known that overfeeding and overeating are habits that are very much shaped by the family and can be passed from one generation to another. But regardless of these "food traditions," the researchers say these findings show that the availability of food may also have an impact on creating a hereditary predisposition to disease.
Researcher Gunnar Kaati, of the department of community medicine and rehabilitation at Umeå University in Sweden, and colleagues say their research suggests that access to food may lead to some type of metabolic adaptation that may occur within the sperm of men, which is then passed to their offspring.
In an editorial that accompanies the study, Marcus E. Pembrey, professor of pediatric genetics at the Institute of Child Health at the University College London, says it's interesting that the father's exposure to a surplus of food seemed to mildly protect his children from diabetes, but overeating by the grandfather had the reverse effect. This suggests that there might be a "see-saw" effect down the generations, which should be investigated in future studies.
Grandpa's Diet Affects Grandkids' Health
Overeating in Childhood May Raise Health Risks for Descendants
-->Oct. 30, 2002 -- It may seem unfair, but what your granddad ate as a youngster could come back to haunt you.
Researchers found that if a man ate too much as a kid, his grandchildren are much more likely to die of diabetes and heart disease. But if he survived a famine or food shortage in his youth, he may end up protecting his grandchildren from diabetes and heart disease.
Researchers say the study shows that a person's eating habits during the pre-pubescent "slow-growth" period can affect their descendants' risk of dying from common diseases like diabetes and heart disease. And this nutrition-based risk factor seems to be passed down through generations by men.
The study appears in November's issue of the European Journal of Human Genetics.
Swedish researchers collected information on the cause of death of 239 people who were born in 1890, 1905, or 1920 in a small village in northern Sweden. They then used historical data to determine what kind of access to food the parents' and grandparents' of these individuals had during their childhood.
The study found that a person's risk of dying from diabetes was four times higher if their paternal grandfather had an excess of food during the pre-pubescent period. But if the paternal grandfather lived through a famine during this period, his grandchildren tended to be protected from diabetes.
Researchers also found that the risk of death from heart disease was reduced if the father or paternal grandmother were exposed to a famine during the slow-growth period.
Researchers say it's known that overfeeding and overeating are habits that are very much shaped by the family and can be passed from one generation to another. But regardless of these "food traditions," the researchers say these findings show that the availability of food may also have an impact on creating a hereditary predisposition to disease.
Researcher Gunnar Kaati, of the department of community medicine and rehabilitation at Umeå University in Sweden, and colleagues say their research suggests that access to food may lead to some type of metabolic adaptation that may occur within the sperm of men, which is then passed to their offspring.
In an editorial that accompanies the study, Marcus E. Pembrey, professor of pediatric genetics at the Institute of Child Health at the University College London, says it's interesting that the father's exposure to a surplus of food seemed to mildly protect his children from diabetes, but overeating by the grandfather had the reverse effect. This suggests that there might be a "see-saw" effect down the generations, which should be investigated in future studies.
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