He’s got a beer in one hand, a toddler in the other, and just enough of a belly. He’s not hitting the gym every day, but he’s not completely letting go either. That’s the image we’ve come to associate with the dad bod.
In a society obsessed with attaining the perfect body, the dad bod has emerged as a refreshing antidote to unrealistic fitness standards. First popularised during the 2010s, it’s often used to describe a man who is not extremely toned or muscular, but rather has a softer, more rounded physique.
The term isn’t exclusive to fathers, but it’s often associated with men in that specific period of their lives. And the idea of it is pretty endearing – think relaxed, cuddly guy who likes to kick back over the weekends by eating pizza and hanging out with his kids. Approachable. Real.
Some women may even see a unique appeal in someone who visually connotes such warmth and relatability – which could explain why one of the first online appearances of this term was in a 2015 article titled “Why Girls Love The Dad Bod”.
However, while it may seem like a harmless concept, the dad bod highlights important insights into physical wellness that brings us back to an oft-asked question: isn’t having excess weight unhealthy?
What the Dad Bod Might Suggest About Your Health
The main feature of a dad bod is a burgeoning gut that says, “huggable”.
Regrettably, that widening waistline can also say a lot of other things about your health, including your likelihood of developing chronic conditions.
The extra fat around your abdomen is referred to as visceral fat, and chances are that if we’re depositing too much fat around our midsection, we probably have it elsewhere too, such as in our arms and legs.
And, as many of us know, if we get too heavy, and very little of this gain can be attributed to muscle growth, then it might be obesity we’re looking at, which puts us at risk of diabetes.
Admittedly, obesity doesn’t immediately lead to diabetes, so you might be safe.
However, according to Dr Saiful B Kassim, a Consultant Endocrinologist at Gleneagles Hospital Kuala Lumpur, it might also be a matter of time.
“You might have a BMI of, let’s say, 29 kilogrammes per metre square (kg/m2). Anything above 27.5 is considered Obesity Class One. So at some stage in the future, you will develop insulin resistance.”
“It’s like a cascading domino effect,” he explained.
Insulin resistance is an important risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
Furthermore, the heightened blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels that often come with having too much fat can also lead to a variety of other complications. This includes conditions such as heart disease and stroke.
Since the dad bod can come with quite a few unwelcome side effects, does this mean you should work on getting chiselled instead?
Why Having a Dad Bod Might Not Be So Bad
Here’s where it gets nuanced. Just because your BMI edges above the textbook range doesn’t mean you’re on a one-way trip to chronic illness.
As explained by Dr Shanker Pasupathy, a Gastrointestinal and Vascular Specialist, your BMI is just another number.
“Actually, most of us do very well within quite a wide weight range,” he assured.
“If you see that number on a machine that you’re being told you should be 55 kg or 60 kg, you can probably be about 20 percent heavier than that, you’d probably be all right.”
For men, a body fat percentage of around 25% can still fall within a healthy range – especially if you are physically active, have no metabolic issues, and feel good.
As it is, the dad bod might be a natural progression, because your metabolism slows down as we age. This means that even if your food intake remains the same as you get older, you could still gain some weight anyway.
So, it seems like having a dad bod may not be so bad for your wellbeing. The key, however, lies in maintaining a balanced lifestyle.
Ensuring Your Health Remains in Good Shape
Many fathers tend to develop a little roundedness to the waist, but it is an unfortunate trend when it’s a consequence of a decline in physical activity, and a rise in sedentary behaviours. Many fathers fall into this cycle: juggling work, family, and fatigue, while physical activity quietly slips down the list.
And let’s not ignore how accessible delicious, unhealthy foods are too.
However, the associated health risks make it important to put effort in maintaining a certain level of fitness.
To begin with, adults should be performing at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity per week, including brisk walking. But if your schedule is too packed to carve time out for exercise, there are other ways you can incorporate more movement into your daily regime.
“If you’re busy, incidental exercise is good enough,” Dr Saiful remarked.
“You park your car very far in the carpark lot furthest away from where the lifts are, for example. Or when you go up the lift to your office, let’s say your office is on the 27th floor. You go up to the 25th floor, and then you take the stairs to the 27th floor.”
And if you’re a dad, you can make exercise another form of quality time with your children. Regularly bringing them out for a walk in the park or a game of football can promote an exercise habit that they’ll adopt as they grow.
At the end of the day, possessing a dad bod doesn’t mean completely letting yourself go. So if you have one, let it instead serve as a reminder of your ability to balance an enjoyment of life’s simple pleasures with a reasonable level of fitness.
As Dr Shanker puts it: “It’s not so much about the weight alone. It’s about what you’re doing with your body.”
So if you’ve got a dad bod, own it. But don’t use it as a reason to give up on your health. Stay active. Eat well. Get enough sleep. And schedule those health checks. After all, good health enhances your quality of life, and helps ensure that you can watch over your loved ones for a long time.
External References
- Clay, S., & Brickell, C. (2021). The Dad Bod: An Impossible Body? The Journal of Men’s Studies, 30(1), 70-86. Retrieved from: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10608265211035790
- Cleveland Clinic. (2024, November 19). What’s a Dad Bod? And Is It Healthy? Retrieved from: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/dad-bod
- Gunnars, K. (2022, December 7). Insulin and Insulin Resistance: The Ultimate Guide. Healthline. Retrieved from: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/insulin-and-insulin-resistance
- Landry, M. J., Pineda, J. P., Lee, J. M., Hoyt, M. A., Edwards, K. L., Lindsay, K. L., Gardner, C. D., & Wong, N. D. (2024). Longitudinal changes in lifestyle behaviours and cardiovascular health during the transition to fatherhood: the Dad Bod observational cohort study protocol. BMJ Open, 14(11), e095200. Retrieved from: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11580254/
- Mayo Clinic Staff. (2021, May 6). Metabolic syndrome. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved from: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/metabolic-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20351916
- Pearson, M. (2015, March 30). Why Girls Love The Dad Bod. The Odyssey Online. Retrieved from: https://www.theodysseyonline.com/thoughts-every-college-freshman-has
- WebMD Editorial Contributors. (2024, February 23). How Much Does Your Metabolism Slow Down as You Age? WebMD. Retrieved from: https://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/how-much-does-your-metabolism-slow-down-as-you-age
