A team of scientists from University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory conducted a study that is the first to link men's diet to healthy children. The study examined 89 healthy non-smoking men, who were questioned about daily doses of 'zinc, folate, vitamin C, vitamin E and beta carotene' intake.

Sperm of all men were then tested for chromosome level. Most of men have chromosome disbalance – chromosomes are even low or high levels. This disbalance leads to a health condition called aneuploidy. All men are supposed to have about 4% disbalance. Those with higher levels of aneuploidy have higher risk for miscarriages and having children with numerous conditions, such as 'Down's syndrome, Turner's syndrome and Klinefelter's syndrome.'

The study showed that those taking more folate (from 722 to 1150 micrograms a day) have lower risk (fro 20 to 30%) for developing aneuploidy. Folate is mainly contained in leafy vegetables, fruits, and supplements with folic acid.

Researchers urge couples to be very watchful to their diet and have healthier lifestyle to have healthy children. Smoking cessation and moderate drinking are the key factors for healthy lifestyle that are a must for every single family.

It is already well known that women's diet is very important for child health not only during pregnancy, but also long before it. This is first of its kind study to show how men's diet affect child's health. However, the study doesn't give exact description of how folate affects quality of sperm. It just shows that improves the quality, but doesn't boost sperm production. -- HULIQ.COM