"You are what your father ate"

Here is an article reporting on a recent study by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the University of Texas at Austin. I found this article interesting as it purports that a father's environmental history impacts the health of his offspring, and seems to be an evolutionary adaptive strategy.

Based on animal studies and limited human studies it appears that fathers are passing on environmental information to their offspring and that this is impacting the expression of their child's genes. Most talks about environmental experiences of the parent having a direct impact of the child's health have revolved around pregnant mothers. In short, fathers pass on more than just their genes at conception and this should be taken into account when considering people's health. It will be interesting to see what future research yields and the possibilities of health-related interventions with fathers-to-be. Typically, I only see them being targeted at mothers, which I believe has larger societal implications.