Prepubertal start of father's smoking and increased body fat in his sons: further characterisation of paternal transgenerational responses

• Published in: European journal of human genetics : EJHG 2014-12, Vol.22 (12), p.1382-1386
• Main Authors: Northstone, Kate, Golding, Jean, Davey Smith, George, Miller, Laura L, Pembrey, Marcus
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adiposity; Adolescent; Age; Body fat; Body Mass Index; Child; Children; Children & youth; Childrens health; Diabetes; Epigenetics; Fathers; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Food supply; Gene expression; Genetics; Heredity; Humans; Male; Mortality; Mutation; Nutrition; Obesity; Obesity - etiology; Obesity - metabolism; Parents & parenting; Paternal Exposure; Progeny; Puberty; Risk Factors; Sex differences; Sex Factors; Smoking; Smoking - adverse effects; Sons; Studies; Surveys and Questionnaires; Waist Circumference
• ISSN: 1018-4813; 1476-5438
• DOI: 10.1038/ejhg.2014.31

Despite interest in the idea that transgenerational effects of adverse exposures might contribute to population health trends, there are few human data. This non-genetic inheritance is all the more remarkable when transmission is down the male-line as reported in a historical Swedish study, where the paternal grandfather's food supply in mid childhood was associated with the mortality rate in his grandsons. Using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children's questionnaire data on smoking and smoking onset from 9886 fathers, we examined the growth of their children from 7-17 years. Adjusting for potential confounders, we assessed associations between body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, total fat mass and lean mass with the age at which the father had started smoking regularly. Of 5376 fathers who reported having ever smoked, 166 reported regular smoking