Doctors have warned women for years that getting pregnant later in life can increase their chances of having a child with health problems. A new study has shown that men who father children later in life are also putting their babies’ health at risk. The study was done by a team of scientists at Stanford University in California.
They examined health records from 2007 to 2016. The data included 40 million babies. They found that babies who had older fathers were 14 percent more likely to be born premature. They also scored lower on the Apgar test. Additionally, women were more likely to develop gestational diabetes when they had a baby with an older man.
Michael Einberg was one of the study authors. He stated that the results of the study showed that having a baby with an older father only slightly increased the risk of complications. However, the risk of complications cannot be ignored.
The results of this study can be scary because the average age of first-time fathers is rising. However, Michael stated that people should not worry too much about the potential health risks. Even though a study may show that something is 10 to 20 percent more likely to happen, a person’s individual risk is not affected much.
Michael and his colleagues stated that the DNA in a man’s sperm changes as he gets older. This can lead to health complications in newborn babies. Hilary Brown is a epidemiologist at the University of Toronto. She stated that it can be hard to tell why mothers’ and fathers’ ages affect the health of the child. DNA changes are just one of the many possible explanations.
There are many other health risks that can cause complications in children. This includes smoking, obesity, chronic disease, mental illness and alcohol consumption.
