Don’t drink, limit coffee and take your daily vitamins – the laundry list of rules for expectant moms and women trying to conceive is lengthy, while fathers are off the hook. But a new Canadian study is suggesting that a father’s diet before conception plays an equally important role in the health of his baby.
Scientists at McGill University in Montreal say that levels of vitamin B9, also called folate, in daddy’s diet are critical to a baby’s healthy development. But with today’s diet of predominantly processed fare, Canadian men may not be getting enough folate from their meals. This is especially so for Canadians who live in the north and don’t have access to fresh food.
“If you look at the information out there in terms of preventing birth defects, it’s all targeted at the mother. There’s absolutely no mention of the father, but men really need to consider their lifestyle in terms of the health of their future offspring. We know there’s a chance that birth defects could originate pre-conception from the father,” Kimmins told Global News.
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