On average, fathers are fatter than men without children. There are a number of reasons behind this which I’ll mention in a bit but so what right? Dads and “Dad bods” are a package. A bit of a pot, a bit of heftiness, it’s all good. I agree. It’s all good.This podcast isn’t a “6 Weeks to a 6 Pack” book. Screw that. If you want your abs to pop, great, there are ways to make that happen. You can make that happen. That little bit of grabbable belly though, that’s not the problem. The health issues are found deeper than what you can slap. This podcast is focused on helping guide Dad’s away from the harm that they are doing to their own health which, as a consequence, gets passed down to their kids.Do my bad habits hurt my kids? Just as smoking in range of a child damages their lungs through 2nd-hand smoke inhalation or driving drunk with a passenger isn’t simply a 1-person issue, there is strong evidence to support the belief that a dad’s unhealthy lifestyle choices, whether that’s nutritionally and/or around physical activity, will likely negatively impact the children in the home. According to one notable study, in families with an overweight father, and a mother in the healthy weight range, the odds of having an obese child are over 4 x greater than if a child had 2 healthy weight parents. The same study indicated that if the father was obese, those odds are nearly 15 x greater (Freeman et al., 2012). Interestingly, what the study showed was that it is not a significant predictor of child obesity if a child has a dad in the healthy weight range and an overweight or obese mother. Before we go any further, while generally speaking, I believe in denying excuses oxygen, I do have a legitimate excuse for why Dads gain a bit of chunk. So let’s get that out of the way first.CHANGESSomething happens to our bodies when our partner gets pregnant and has a baby. That something may seem like a negative at first but it’s not, and it’s appropriately timed. The problem is when we take these short-term changes and decide to just “let it all go.” I’ll explain.When a woman becomes a mum, intense changes occur within and to her body and mind. Fluctuation is the operative word. What a fun word to say. Fluctuation. It’s like a swear word without being a swear word. The structures of her brain fluctuate, her hormones fluctuate, her physical appearance fluctuates. We know and feel for our women. Bloody champions. As a dude I can say that I’m happy not to be the one going through pregnancy related bodily changes. But hang on – do we boys go through any biological changes during and after our partner’s pregnancy? To alter an Obama line by 1 word,YesWeDoStudies in humans and animals, indicate that becoming a dad has both acute and also longer lasting health effects. I’m not about to compare the experience of men vs women, which would be an “apples and oranges” (or should I say “bananas and peaches”) attempt at comparison. Truth is that the women have it far worse however, to shrug off a male’s experience is unhelpful and instead, by acknowledging that we Dads do indeed have our own physiological and psychological issues to contend with, we can honestly and openly address these issues and work towards leading the type of healthful existence that we can pass on to our children.We can break poor health cycles or avoiding starting them in the first place. So what are these changes?A 2014 study lead by neurobiologist and anthropologist James Rilling, at Emory University, found that, “…even though fathers do not go through pregnancy, they are still somehow experiencing some hormonal changes that seem to be consequential."The study took nearly 90 heterosexual, married fathers of children between the ages of 1 and 2 years old, (the children were between 1 and 2 not the fathers,) and 50 men who didn’t have children, and by using parent-related and sexual stimuli, measured and compared hormone levels and neural responses between the 2 groups.Before I go on I’ll give a couple of quick definitions:TESTOSTERONETestosterone is a sex hormone largely produced in the testes which in men, performs a number of vital functions including helping strengthen bone mass, assisting with fat distribution, encouraging muscle growth and regulating libido. It’s also what makes men, generally speaking, hairier and more aggressive than women. Hairgressive. Not a word.OXYTOCINThis is a lovely hormone. It really is. It makes you feel all warm and gooey like a chocolate lava cake. It’s sometimes known as the “love hormone.” It’s usually associated with mums as it helps with maternal bonding.Back to the study:What was found was that compared to men who didn’t have kids, the fathers had lower levels of testosterone but higher levels of oxytocin.That play-off between the hormones is believed to help a dad feel less antagonistic towards this little home invading, breast thieving bambino and more caring and loving and nurturing. Not to be confused with neutering. Real men change nappies.With the new father's oxytocin levels risen and the testosterone levels dropped, the dad is prone to fat gain but here’s the thing, those hormonal changes are not permanent. What exacerbates things is external changes to the way we sleep, work, exercise, and chill out. We receive on a broken plate added stress that comes with caring for financially and protecting emotionally, mentally and physically a gorgeous little poop machine. Before marriage and little snot-monsters, I would guiltlessly spend hours in the gym. It was nothing to hit the grunt box for a couple of hours in the morning and for another couple of hours at night. It was my social club and second home. But then, after I tied the knot and did the bloke’s part in bringing kids into existence, time-consuming responsibilities were added to my calendar and my extensive gym time was whittled down.There are quite a few trade-offs to our lifestyle when we decide to become dads, but the benefits are immeasurable as any loving dad will testify. I wouldn’t go back in time and avoid having my kids for anything. Writer Clarence Budington Kelland said of his Dad, “He didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.”In the coming episodes I will share with you 12 simple rules that all Dads can follow in order to set the best example of healthy living, so that a trend is set for generations to come.Talk soon.

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