Mothers Diet May Influence Sex of Baby

For those considering pregnancy and want to influence whether they have a boy or a girl, there are new findings. New research published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society suggest that you start with your diet, specifically the mothers. The report states that "Prior to pregnancy, breakfast cereal, but no other item, was strongly associated with infant sex," and that "Women producing male infants consumed more breakfast cereal than those with female infants."

To obtain the data scientists at the Universities of Exeter and Oxford in England followed 750 first-time pregnant women. The women were asked about their eating habits before and during pregnancy. They were split into three groups based on the sheer number of calories consumed and the healthfulness of their diets.

For the women who consumed more calories and received a wider range of nutrients, 56 percent had boys. This group was also the most likely to eat breakfast. Among the women with the lowest caloric intake, only 45 percent had boys.

The study is the first linking sex determination with diet in humans although it's been known that in some animals, more calories equals more males. So why have the boy-to-girl ratios has been slipping in the USA where food is plentiful? One theory is that mothers are on low-calorie diets or are skipping breakfast meals.

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Scientific American