Having a father and grandfather that waited until they were older before having a kid might boost the child's lifespan, a new study finds

The study looked at "telomere length" in blood samples collected from nearly 2,000 children in the Philippines and determined the ages of the children's fathers and paternal grandfathers. Telomeres are cap-like DNA structures on the tips of chromosomes that protect a person's genes from cell damage.

Scientists have linked telomeres to aging, finding shorter telomere lengths suggest a shorter lifespan. Telomere length shortens overtime in most tissues as a person's body ages - except in a man's sperm, where telomere length actually increases over time. That means the offspring of an older father will inherit longer telomeres from the outset.

When researchers looked at the children, they found offspring of older fathers - who gave birth after their late 30s - not only inherited longer telomeres, but the effect held true across multiple generations, such as child's paternal grandfather. So even if grandpa had a child at an older age, it might boost his eventual grandson's longevity.
Read the rest here.

My parents were close to 40 when I was born, which was almost 20 years after my brother and oldest older sister were born