During pregnancy (and when trying to conceive), women are warned that many of their choices, like drinking alcohol, smoking, and many dietary preferences, could harm their babies. For most, giving up or drastically reducing alcohol and nicotine intake, and eating at least a bit healthier, is a relatively minor sacrifice.
However, more and more recent studies are showing that a father’s choices and health can have a significant impact on his offspring, too.
The latest example is a new study that suggests a dad’s nicotine consumption could have negative effects on the health of his children (and not just by secondhand exposure).
What The Study Shows
While we know that a major risk of parental nicotine use postnatally is that kids are exposed to secondhand smoke, this study, published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society, suggests that even if dad is determined to quit before the baby is born, his nicotine use prior to conception can have detrimental effects.
The study was done in mice, which were dosed with nicotine in their water. Only the males received nicotine. Then, the offspring were examined.
In female offspring, they found insulin resistance and higher levels of a hormone called ghrelin, which signals the body’s need to eat. In male offspring, researchers found altered glucose levels and lower glucagon levels, which trigger the body to raise blood sugar when it drops too low.
In short, in mice, they found that a father’s nicotine use prior to conception resulted in offspring whose bodies don’t handle sugar, insulin, and hunger in the ‘normal’ ways, and increase the risk of diabetes.
What Does This Mean For Humans?
The outcome of this experiment strongly suggests similar negative effects could occur in humans. Further research could confirm this.
However, the factors in humans are even more complicated than in mice. For one thing, News-Medical notes, since the mice were given nicotine directly in their water supply, the experiment doesn’t show any possible negative effects from other chemicals and additives that are included in vape or e-cig products, or in the making of cigarettes.
It also doesn’t examine long-term changes to reproduction. For instance, if a man uses nicotine products for years, then stops for a period of time before choosing to start a family, are the same harmful effects still present? Does the effect increase for a longer-term nicotine user, compared to someone who, like the mice, was given nicotine shortly before reproduction? Is this increased risk then heritable to the nicotine user’s grandchildren?
Ultimately, what this research shows clearly is that there is a potential effect on children whose father uses nicotine before conception.
What Parents (& Parents-To-Be) Should Know
While there have been periods of time when smoking during pregnancy was considered quite normal, we now know that it is not safe, and that the best time to quit is before getting pregnant, but quitting once you know you’re pregnant is still safer for your baby than continuing.
We now have indications that fathers, too, can make their babies healthier and safer by quitting nicotine, or never starting.
Though some doctors in the past have said that a glass of red wine on occasion to relax is fine for pregnant women, and some researchers may still debate the effects of very small amounts of alcohol, our best information at this time is that there’s no amount of alcohol that can be deemed clearly ‘safe’ during pregnancy. We do not know a specific amount, point during gestation, or frequency that results in fetal alcohol syndrome.
Recent research shows that men, too, should scale back their drinking. A 2023 article in the Journal of Health Economics & Outcomes Research reported that because of the genetic material in sperm, there’s evidence that fetal alcohol syndrome can also be connected to the father’s drinking habits in the months before conception.
Ultimately, the safest choice is to abstain during pregnancy (and ideally, for a period prior to it), for both parents. If quitting doesn’t seem possible, then consider reducing consumption and speaking to your doctor about how they can help.