An investigation of the effect of paternal occupation group at conception on birth weight and gestational age

Abstract

The occupational histories of fathers were collected prospectively as part of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ALSPAC), and were used to investigate the association of paternal job title with a baby's birth weight and gestational age. The analysis cohort consisted of 4,795 singleton live‐born babies whose fathers responded fully to questionnaire items regarding occupational history. Jobs were coded using the British Standard Occupational Codes and classified into nine major occupational groups. A 73‐gram difference (95% CI: 0.16, 145.17) was found between the mean birth weight of full‐term babies born of professional fathers (3,543 gm) and of fathers working in craft and related occupations (3,470 gm). This difference decreased and lost significance after controlling for sociodemographic variables. No difference was found in the mean birth weight of preterm babies, or in the rate of preterm delivery, when analyzed by paternal occupation at conception. Our results suggest that when important sociodemographic variables are known, the father's job title alone may not be a useful predictor of birth weight or preterm delivery. Am. J. Ind. Med. 31:738–743, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Socioeconomic position during pregnancy and DNA methylation signatures at three stages across early life: epigenome-wide association studies in the ALSPAC birth cohort

“…A possible explanation could be that we used a broad classification of occupation into manual and non-manual classes, which may have led to misclassification of occupational exposures. Similarly, previous studies in the ALSPAC cohort failed to detect adverse pregnancy outcomes in relation to maternal 60 or paternal occupation 61 …”

Improving Metabolic Health in Obese Male Mice via Diet and Exercise Restores Embryo Development and Fetal Growth

“…Paternal exposure to high levels of x-rays as well as fathers' occupation is associated with small for gestational age babies independently of other confounding factors [50], [51], showing that paternal health at the time of conception can influence fetal health outcomes. Consistent with previous studies in rodents [11], [52] our HFD fed mice (HH) produced smaller fetuses compared with those fed a CD (CC), which has been linked with impaired metabolic and reproductive health in subsequent offspring [52], .…”