Adiposity, CVD risk factors and testosterone

Abstract

Background and objectivesIn many settings, partnered, invested fathers have lower testosterone than single men or fathers who are not involved in caregiving. Reduced testosterone has been identified as a risk factor for multiple chronic diseases, and men’s health also commonly varies by life history status. There have been few tests of whether variation in testosterone based on partnering and parenting has implications for men’s health.MethodologyWe analysed data from a US population-representative sample (NHANES) of young-to-middle aged US men (n = 875; mean age: 29.8 years ± 6.0 [SD]). We tested for life history status differences in testosterone, adiposity levels and biomarkers of cardiovascular disease (CVD)-risk (HDL cholesterol; triglycerides; white blood cell count [WBC]).ResultsPartnered men residing with children (RC) had lower testosterone and elevated abdominal adiposity compared to never married men not residing with children. While they did not significantly differ for WBC or triglycerides, partnered RC men also had comparatively lower HDL. Partnered RC males’ lower testosterone accounted for their relatively elevated adiposity, but testosterone, adiposity, and health-related covariates did not explain their relatively reduced HDL.Conclusions and implicationsOur results linking life history status-based differences in testosterone and adiposity, alongside our complementary HDL findings, indicate that testosterone-related psychobiology might have implications for partnered RC men’s CVD risk in the US and other similar societal settings. These types of socially contextualized observations of men’s health and physiological function particularly merit incorporation in clinical discussions of fatherhood as a component of men’s health.

The transition to parenthood as a critical window for adult health.

“…Hormonal changes over the transition to parenthood have been associated with weight-gain risk for both mothers and fathers. For example, lower levels of testosterone explain greater abdominal adiposity among partnered men living with children, compared to single, childless men (Gettler, Sarma, Gengo, Oka, & McKenna, 2017). In women, flatter diurnal cortisol slopes, a marker of allostatic load that may indicate compromised physiological adaptation to psychosocial stress, have been associated with postpartum weight retention (Straub et al, 2016).…”

Correlates of Sexual Behavior Across Fatherhood Status: Finding From the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), 2016–2018

“…Just as fatherhood can have many positive impacts on men’s health, it can also have effects that are not optimal for men’s health. Research highlights detrimental health effects associated with fatherhood that include sleep disruptions, weight gain, increased stress, and decreased testosterone (Gettler et al, 2017; Saxbe et al, 2018). Garfield and colleagues (2014) used nationally representative longitudinal data to observe changes in depressive symptoms as young men transitioned to fatherhood.…”