Dear Colleagues,

It is with great pleasure that I invite you to join our Special Issue on “Epigenetics, Men's  Diet, and Offspring Health”, a topic which is receiving little attention in the scientific community.

While women’s health has been the major focus for many years, especially in the context of protecting children’s health (during and after pregnancy), general knowledge regarding the nutrition and health of men and boys is in its infancy. Consequently, this theme is barely broached by our policymakers.

Research around the role of nutrition in women—during pregnancy and beyond—is obviously of great significance, but our scientific insights would be skewed if we ignore the effects of the paternal environment on, for instance, the male germline. Recent studies clearly indicate that a man’s diet has a major impact on both his and his offspring’s health, but more research is needed to understand the underlying biological processes. At the same time, it is our responsibility as scientists to improve awareness in our communities that men’s diet—throughout their life—and their environment affect their progeny.

Epigenetics is most likely a key mediator between nutritional exposures and healthy or unhealthy phenotypes or diseases. Once better documented through scientific evidence and accurately communicated to public health agencies, findings can be effectively implemented through public health policies. Other stakeholders that will certainly benefit from fatherly-oriented research are healthcare providers, the pharmaceutical and food industry, and specific subpopulations. More specifically, people who would benefit from this field of research include couples suffering from infertility and patients with other chronic conditions or diseases. Moreover, it is generally known that the life expectancy of men is about 5 years shorter than that of women. While this may partly be explained by risk-increasing behaviors (such as smoking) in men, there are other, unidentified aspects that play a role in this gender gap. Moreover, despite the efforts of governmental organizations to improve our lifestyles, a gender-focused health strategy plan is still lacking. This is particularly surprising, given that not only do men die earlier, but they also have a different body and, hence, different nutritional needs.

In conclusion, given current insights into gene-environment interactions, or the impact of nutrition on the epigenome, the role of men’s diet cannot be ignored, and men’s footprint on the health of their future children and grandchildren is an area of research that has just begun. In the current Special Issue, our aim is to collect contributions in this field but not limited to following

1. Inequalities in health between men and women: current status and what we have done (or not done) to improve the gender gap in the context of lifestyle, nutrition, prevention programs, etc.
2. The role of food in men’s health, fertility, and the health of their offspring. Lifestyle and nutrition at different stages of life (including young age, preconception, and in older men), effects in multiple generations, chronic disorders, etc., inhuman and animal studies.

3.  Underlying (epigenetic) mechanisms in nutrient–disorder associations
4.  Hypotheses on intergenerational and transgenerational effects of paternal nutrition (future directions).
5.  Food cultures (through the paternal line)
6. Implications for public health and suggestions about male nutrition in future health policy measures and advices

The submission of original research, review articles, or meta-analysis studies is encouraged for publication in this Special Issue

Dr. Adelheid Soubry
Guest Editor

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• father/paternal/male/men
• epigenetics
• chronic diseases
• offspring
• nutrition
• food supplements
• public health/policies