Nope, it's not just an Instagram trend, and it's not just another way for us to justify fancying Leonardo DiCaprio / Jason Segel. Turns out, having a 'dadbod' is a very real thing
Men or women, boys or girls, cats or dogs - we're not here to bodyshame. If you have a six pack, an eight pack, an empty pack or just a poster of 2Pac on your bedroom wall, that's alright with us. We don't care if your armpits are clean shaven or hairy. We don't give a flying banana if your thighs rub up against each other, if your toes are all the same length or if your beard grows in the shape of a rainbow.
But we don't half love the phrase 'dadbod'.
Especially because science has now proved that it's a very real thing. (And who are we to argue with science?)
A study published in the American Journal of Men's Health has revealed that men who have children will experience a gradual increase in their BMI - whereas those that don't, won't. And they reckon it's important to make us all aware of this now, because they think it could be a factor in the obesity crisis currently affecting the western world.
'These findings support the need for obesity prevention interventions specifically designed for and targeted toward young males in general and those transitioning to fatherhood in particular,' say the cleverclogs behind the study. 'In families with an overweight father and a normal weight mother, the odds of having an obese child 4 years later were 4.18 times greater compared with two normal weight parents, and, if the father was obese, the odds rose to 14.88 times greater.'
Following 10,253 men over 20 years, the scientists discovered that the men who spent their time giving piggy backs, hunting for monsters under the bed and practising the heimlich manoeuvre on their two year old were more likely to see a BMI increase of 0.6. Which is surprising because - to be honest - that all sounds unbearably exhausting.
But presumably it's harder to justify spending three hours flexing your calf muscles in the gym when there's a small human being at home waiting to throw up all over your tshirt.
PS. Yes, we know Jason Segel doesn't have any children. But we wanted an excuse to look at him one more time, OK?