Hey dads, have you skipped the gym this Easter weekend and instead spent time helping the kids finish off all those chocolate eggs?
No need to worry, because now scientists are claiming that not only are pudgy, older fathers more attractive to the opposite sex than their leaner, younger counterparts, but they also – get this – live longer and are better at passing on their genes to their offspring.
Yup, that's right. There is no reason to fret that you are developing a bit of a "dad bod," guys. Because while becoming a little chunkier after fatherhood due to decreasing testosterone levels may not fit the "macho ideal," it actually both prolongs your life and strengthens your immune system.
In fact, a 2008 study found that men with high metabolisms were around 50 percent more likely to die in a given year than those whose bodies burned up less energy at rest.
This is what Richard Bribiescas, professor of anthropology and deputy provost at Yale University, writes in his book How Men Age: What Evolution Reveals About Male Health and Mortality.
“Macho makes you sick. The Hollywood image of the swaggering, dashing man dispatching bad guys and carrying the day conjures up a perception of indestructibility."
You heard the man.
“While men are on average larger and physically stronger than women, they also have a considerable weakness," Bribiescas explains.
“We have a harder time fighting off infections and illness compared with women, and… men simply do not take care of themselves. This has a significant negative impact on the pace at which men age.”
As well as for their own health, Bribiescas also argues that becoming more podgy makes dads more likely to invest their time in their children rather than looking for other women, something which also has health benefits to them.
“[One] effect of lower testosterone levels is loss of muscle mass and increases in fat mass,” Bribiescas writes. “This change in body composition not only causes men to shop for more comfortable trousers but also facilitates increased survivorship and, hypothetically, a hormonal milieu that would more effectively promote and support paternal investment.”
So go on, guys, embrace that "dad bod" of yours – it's actually making you healthier – and sexier to women.
