Babies born to older fathers more likely to have health problems, study finds
- Researchers say newborns are more likely to be underweight and need intensive care, and are at greater risk of a seizure, if father is over 45
- Changes in male reproductive cells could be to blame
Newborn babies whose fathers are 45 and older are more likely to be underweight or wind up in intensive care, researchers reported last week, adding to the list of problems associated with older dads.
For fathers 55 and up, infants tended to score worse in a standardised test used to assess the baby’s health immediately after birth.
Even more startling – and harder to explain – was a heightened risk of diabetes arising during pregnancy for women carrying the child of a man 55 and older, according to a study published in the medical journal BMJ.
All these conclusions, the researchers cautioned, are based on an analysis of medical records rather than a controlled experiment, which means no firm conclusions about cause and effect can be drawn.
The overall risk of such outcomes also remained low, they added.
