Healthy diet and exercise can help improve fatherhood chances

Men who take a healthy diet and take part in moderate exercise may have a better chance of fathering children, new studies have suggested.

According to the study conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health, researchers looked at what 188 students ate and drank and divided their diets into a “prudent” one characterised by high intake of fish, fruit, vegetables and pulses, and a “western” one full of pizza, red and processed meat, high energy drinks and snacks.

They found that those with the best diet had 11 per cent more motile sperm that were better at swimming towards an egg than those with the least healthy eating habits.

“Motility is most important for couples who want to try to conceive naturally. A small increase could lead to a small increase in fertility,” the Telegraph quoted Audrey Gaskins, the lead researcher as saying.

According to another study conducted at Harvard, researchers analysed the diet of 99 men who were already attending a fertility clinic because they and their wives or girlfriends were unable to get pregnant.

They found that the consumption of Trans Fatty Acids - previously found in many fried fast food joints but now being phased out - was linked to sperm concentration.

According to the third study conducted at Yamaguchi University School of Medicine in Japan, researchers found that those who did moderate exercise, such as brisk walking, had better swimming sperm than both those who did little physical activity or those who did strenuous activities.

The three papers have been presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine in Florida.