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Session: Nourish to Flourish: Healthy Diet Patterns and Diet Quality in Early Development (Poster Theater Flash Session 17)

(PTFS17-04-24) Don't Forget the Fathers! Preconception Paternal Adherence to a Prudent Diet Pattern: A Shield Against Accelerated Child Growth

Monday, July 1, 2024

2:08 PM – 2:12 PM CT

Location: W185A-C

Presenting Author(s)

Kozeta Miliku, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor
University of Toronto Temerty
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Co-Author(s)

AR

Antonio Rossi

University of Toronto, Canada
MR

Myrtha Reyna Vargas

University of Toronto, Canada
ZC

Zheng Hao Chen, BSc (he/him/his)

PhD Student
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
PM

Puishkumar J. Mandhane, PhD, MD, FRCPC

Associate professor
University of Alberta Department of Pediatrics
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
ES

Elinor Simons

University of Manitoba, Canada
ST

Stuart Turvey, MBBS DPhil FRCPC

Canada Research Chair in Pediatric Precision Health Aubrey J. Tingle Professor of Pediatric Immunolo
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
TM

Theo J. Moraes, MD, PhD, FRCPC

University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
PS

Padmaja Subbarao, MD, M.Sc., FRCP

Associate Professor and Director of CHILD study
SickKids & McMaster University
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Objectives: Maternal dietary factors have been acknowledged to be associated with childhood obesity. However, the contribution of paternal diet has been understudied. We hypothesize that children of fathers adhering to a prudent diet pattern will have reduced odds of accelerated body mass index (BMI) growth trajectory during childhood.

Methods: In the CHILD Cohort Study, among 2259 participants, we collected information on paternal diet and offspring age-and-sex-standardized WHO BMI z-scores. A food-item screener captured the father’s diet from the past 12 months at the enrollment visit. Paternal dietary patterns were derived using data-driven approaches (a-posteriori) by principal component analysis with varimax rotation. We used group-based trajectory modelling (GBTM) to identify offspring BMI trajectories and multivariable-adjusted weighted multinomial logistic regression to investigate the association between paternal diet and child BMI trajectories. Mediation analyses were employed to determine the mediating role of prenatal paternal BMI.

Results: We identified two paternal dietary patterns: a prudent pattern characterized by high consumption of seafood, fruits, vegetables, pulses, legumes, and nuts; and a western-like diet pattern characterized by high consumption of meat, pasta, butter, margarine, potatoes, milk, eggs, and fast food. Using GBTM, we identified four offspring BMI trajectories: low stable, normative, high stable, and rapid growth. Children of fathers in the highest tertile of the prudent diet pattern had 50% lower odds [aOR: 0.50, (95% CI: 0.48, 0.52)] of being in the rapid growth trajectory. These associations were independent of paternal age, education, and ethnicity; maternal diet, and child factors; however, they were largely mediated (proportion mediated ~40%) by prenatal paternal BMI.

Conclusions: Fathers’ adherence to a prudent diet pattern has a protective influence on child health, which is partly mediated by paternal BMI. These findings emphasize the importance of involving fathers in preconception care to improve men’s health and the health of their offspring.

Funding Sources: The Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Implementing Smart Cities Interventions to Build Healthy Cities training platform, the Connaught New Investigator award, and the Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute.