People whose fathers were overweight as teenagers had epigenetic markers associated with asthma, obesity and low lung function

A new study suggests that boys who become overweight in their early teens risk damaging the genes of their future children, increasing their chances of developing asthma, obesity and low lung function.

Research published in Nature Communications Biology is the first human study to reveal the biological mechanism behind the impact of fathers’ early teenage obesity on their children.

Researchers from the University of Southampton and the University of Bergen in Norway investigated the epigenetic profiles of 339 people, aged 7 to 51. They assessed the father’s changes in body composition across adolescence using self-reported body image as a proxy for body fat composition.

They identified epigenetic changes in over 2,000 sites in 1,962 genes linked with adipogenesis (formation of fat cells) and lipid (fat) metabolism in the children of fathers who gained weight as teenagers.

These changes in the way DNA is packaged in cells (methylation) regulate gene expression (switching them on and off) and are associated with asthma, obesity and lung function. The effect was more pronounced in female children than male children, with different genes involved.

“The overweight status of future fathers during puberty was associated with a strong signal in their children’s DNA which were also related to the likelihood of their children being overweight themselves,” says author of the paper Dr Negusse Tadesse Kitaba, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Southampton.

“Early puberty, when boys start their developing sperm, seems to be a key window of vulnerability for lifestyle influences to drive epigenetic changes in future offspring.”

Professor Cecilie Svanes from the University of Bergen says: “The new findings have significant implications for public health and may be a game-changer in public health intervention strategies.

“They suggest that a failure to address obesity in young teenagers today could damage the health of future generations, further entrenching health inequalities for decades to come.”

Prof John Holloway from the University of Southampton and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Southampton Biomedical Research Centre added: “Childhood obesity is increasing globally. The results of this study demonstrate that this is a concern not only for the health of the population now but also for generations to come.”

The paper Father’s adolescent body silhouette is associated with offspring asthma, lung function and BMI through DNA methylation is published in Communications Biology and is available online.

The research was funded by the Norwegian Research Council.

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