'Dad Bod' Is Real: First-Time Fathers Gain Weight, Study Confirms

The "dad bod" has become a term of endearment for shirtless, yacht-going, beer belly-exhibiting celebrities, such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Vince Vaughn, and the list goes on. However, researchers at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine took it a little bit more serious and discovered that many men incline to gain a significant amount of weight and increase their body mass index (BMI) rating after they become fathers.

The team of research scientists has been working on this specific study, long before the term even became increasingly popular. They collected records from 10,253 young men during the course of a 20-year research, known as the National Longitudinal Study of the Adolescent Health.

Many of the participants were 12 years old when they enrolled in the study and followed until they were 34 years old.

Chief researcher Dr. Craig F. Garfield and his team divided the data into three groups: non-fathers, resident fathers (fathers who stay with their children), and nonresident fathers. After comparing the results, they learned that both groups of fathers experienced an increase in their BMI ratings from their adolescence to the time they became fathers.

On the other hand, the subjects in the non-father group showed a decrease in weight by as much as 1.4 pounds during the same period.

Garfield expressed the results of the research were quite surprising, since his previous study suggested that men who entered fatherhood showed more interest in improving their health.

The term "Dad bod" was essentially discovered in April, when Mackenzie Pearson, 19, wrote a story on website The Odyssey, titled "Why Girls Love the Dad Bod. In her story, she suggested that women are more attracted to men whose physiques are "a nice balance between a beer gut and working out."

The clever indication went viral and soon enough, the "dad bod" became a topic of discussion on social media and many publications. Also, men across the nation seemingly began to embrace their nonexistent washboard abs and would no longer have to worry about the societal expectation of beauty or feel guilty after dousing a pint or two of beer with a couple of slices of pizza.

To learn more about the "dad bod" in a more scientific and health-related manner, check out The American Journal of Men's Health.