UC biologists find link between paternal diet and offspring’s health

Doctors long have stressed the importance of good nutrition for expectant mothers.

Now biologists at the University of Cincinnati say the father’s diet could play a similar role in the health of a baby.

UC biology professors Michal Polak and Joshua Benoit manipulated the nutrition of male fruit flies and observed a strong correlation between poor diet and poor survivorship among their offspring. The study was published this week in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

“We were really surprised,” Polak said. “In many species, the moms do a lot of the care. So we expect there to be an effect from maternal diet on offspring because of that strong link. But it was a real surprise to find a link between paternal diet and offspring.”

UC collaborated on the study with researchers from the University of Western…