As life-changing experiences go, few can compare to becoming a parent. It can cause you to redefine your relationship with your own parents, it can imbue you with a sobering sense of responsibility, and it can even cause you to examine your own mortality. Now we know that it can also make you fat.
That’s the finding of a 20-year study of more than 10,000 men published in the American Journal of Men’s Health. In addition to a bouncy bundle of joy, fatherhood also adds an average of 4.4 extra pounds to a six-foot dad. A father who doesn’t live with his children can expect to gain 3.3 pounds, while men who don’t become fathers actually lose weight, about 1.4 pounds on average. Other factors that may influence weight gain, such as age, race, education, income, screen time, and daily activity, were taken into consideration, so weight gain was solely due to The paternity. This additional weight gain also has the side effect of increasing the father’s risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
It’s probably not surprising news for dads. Sleepless nights, extra meals, and a mountain of leftovers from fussy kids aren’t exactly a recipe for weight loss. Time becomes a luxury for parents and there is less and less to take care of oneself.
Dr. Craig Garfield is the study’s lead author and an associate professor of pediatrics and medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and an assistant pediatrician at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. Dr. Garfield attributes the weight gain to differences in lifestyle and eating habits between the three groups. “You have new responsibilities when you have your children and you may not have time to take care of yourself like you did before in terms of exercise. Your family becomes the priority,” he stated.
Fortunately, the Dad Bod is all the rage right now, so dads don’t need to lament the fact that their kids ruined their figure. However, for the sake of our children, parents need to focus a little more on their own health.
So what can parents do? Stop eating leftovers for starters! Dr. Garfield admitted that his main flaw was finishing his children’s leftover pizza. Dads can get active with their kids, too—according to Harvard Medical School, just 30 minutes of moderate playtime with your kids can burn anywhere from 120 to 178 calories. Vigorous play can burn 150 to 222 calories per half hour. So think of your kids as living kettlebells to be exercised with!
Kettlebells that give hugs.