Breakthrough: Scientists discover grandpa's obesity can affect grandchildren's health

In a breakthrough obesity research, scientists have found that father's metabolic health can be passed through multiple generations, affecting not only his children also his grandchildren.

Scientists at Victor Chang Institute and Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Australia have discovered that male mice who are obese when they conceive are putting their children and grandchildren at significant risk of developing metabolic disease long before they are even born.

The lead author on the study, believes that the breakthrough discovery could have immediate ramifications for the public's health. "A baby's health has long been considered the mother's responsibility as soon as she falls pregnant. But little attention has been paid to how a father s health might impact his unborn child," said associate professor Catherine Suter from the Victor Chang Institute.

"Now, we've found powerful evidence, in a mouse model, that dad's nutrition and metabolic health can influence his sons, and even his grandsons," Suter said. "We looked at the effect of dad's obesity across three generations. At first his offspring appeared to be in good metabolic health," she said.

"But when they consumed a high-fat, high sugar, junk food diet, all the sons reacted dramatically and within just a few weeks they developed fatty liver disease and pre-diabetic symptoms, such as elevated glucose and insulin in the bloodstream," she said.

The researchers were amazed to find that the grandsons of the obese mice were also predisposed to metabolic disorders, just as their fathers were. This predisposition was transmitted to the grandsons even if their fathers ate well and were metabolically well at the time of conception.

"The grandchildren are at significant risk of getting very sick if they eat a 'junk food diet' - even when their father eats well and is healthy," Suter said. "The effects of the diet on offspring are dramatic, even when they eat poorly for just for a short time, all because their grandfather was obese," she said.

The researchers also observed that in the great-grandsons, the metabolic health was improving significantly. "By the third generation, the exaggerated response to a junk food diet was all but absent. What this shows is that it's possible to break that cycle of metabolic disease," Suter said. "It is crucial to note that this predisposition is not genetic. Instead, it is acquired. That means the damage can be undone and is ultimately reversible," she said.

The research was published in the journal Molecular Metabolism.