Can eating breakfast cereal really help you conceive a boy?
April 24th 2008 01:29
Recent research published online in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences has identified an interesting correlation between maternal diet and the ability of parents to be able to have a hand in selecting the gender of their baby.
Studies completed at St Mary’s Hospital at Portsmouth in the south of England have shown a substantial link between increased nutrient intake before and in the early weeks of pregnancy, and the prevalence of male babies. Scientists from the Universities of Exeter and Oxford have examined the eating habits of 740 women, using questionnaires to determine their usual dietary intake before pregnancy and accurate food diaries to keep track of the women’s dietary intake during the first 28 weeks of gestation.
The women were all in their first pregnancy, avoiding potential skewing of the results due to previous childbirth, which has been shown to also have an effect on offspring gender. The women also had no known medical problems (including obesity) and the random sample also included a proportion of smokers equivalent to the proportion of smokers in the general community.
Results from the study showed that women with a higher nutritional intake before pregnancy and in the early weeks, in particular those who enjoyed cereal for breakfast every day, were more likely to have a boy. Girls were born to women with a lower nutritional intake, especially those who tended to skip breakfast.
The study also showed that there was no determinable correlation between a baby’s gender and socio-demographic situation, anthropometric characteristics, smoking status, caffeine intake or Body Mass Index (the ratio of weight and height often used to determine a person’s body fat and obesity value).
One possible reason for these results is the link between glucose levels in the body and foetal sex. It’s well documented that missing out on breakfast extends the usual period of night time fasting, naturally depressing glucose levels in the body. Previous studies have shown that that decreased glucose in the mother’s body enhances the chance of producing female offspring. The more glucose, the better chance of having a boy. It’s unknown why this is the case.
It’s also been shown that in times of hardship, when nutritional food has been tougher to come by, there has been a prevalence of females being born. This is likely due to the fact that female babies are smaller and lighter (on average) than male babies, meaning that the maternal body needs less nutrients to sustain an unborn girl than a boy. It’s well documented that in times when food is harder to obtain, more girls are born than boys.
Funnily enough, over the past few decades there has been a slow but steady increase in the number of girl births in relation to births of boys, which are declining. This is likely due to the change in eating habits in the developed world, which tend to be less nutrient rich than in decades past. There is also a habit, especially in young women, of missing breakfast which ties in with the slight rise in female births.
It’s an interesting thought that we might finally be getting to a stage in our development where we can actually have a say in the gender of our offspring and that by eating cereal for breakfast every day you can raise your chances of having a boy.
"If a mother has plentiful resources then it can make sense to invest in producing a son because he is likely to produce more grandchildren than would a daughter. However, in leaner times having a daughter is a safer bet," stated Dr Fiona Mathews, co-author of the study and member of the School of Biosciences at Exeter University, England.
To read the report in detail, click here.
Studies completed at St Mary’s Hospital at Portsmouth in the south of England have shown a substantial link between increased nutrient intake before and in the early weeks of pregnancy, and the prevalence of male babies. Scientists from the Universities of Exeter and Oxford have examined the eating habits of 740 women, using questionnaires to determine their usual dietary intake before pregnancy and accurate food diaries to keep track of the women’s dietary intake during the first 28 weeks of gestation.
The women were all in their first pregnancy, avoiding potential skewing of the results due to previous childbirth, which has been shown to also have an effect on offspring gender. The women also had no known medical problems (including obesity) and the random sample also included a proportion of smokers equivalent to the proportion of smokers in the general community.
Results from the study showed that women with a higher nutritional intake before pregnancy and in the early weeks, in particular those who enjoyed cereal for breakfast every day, were more likely to have a boy. Girls were born to women with a lower nutritional intake, especially those who tended to skip breakfast.
The study also showed that there was no determinable correlation between a baby’s gender and socio-demographic situation, anthropometric characteristics, smoking status, caffeine intake or Body Mass Index (the ratio of weight and height often used to determine a person’s body fat and obesity value).
One possible reason for these results is the link between glucose levels in the body and foetal sex. It’s well documented that missing out on breakfast extends the usual period of night time fasting, naturally depressing glucose levels in the body. Previous studies have shown that that decreased glucose in the mother’s body enhances the chance of producing female offspring. The more glucose, the better chance of having a boy. It’s unknown why this is the case.
It’s also been shown that in times of hardship, when nutritional food has been tougher to come by, there has been a prevalence of females being born. This is likely due to the fact that female babies are smaller and lighter (on average) than male babies, meaning that the maternal body needs less nutrients to sustain an unborn girl than a boy. It’s well documented that in times when food is harder to obtain, more girls are born than boys.
Funnily enough, over the past few decades there has been a slow but steady increase in the number of girl births in relation to births of boys, which are declining. This is likely due to the change in eating habits in the developed world, which tend to be less nutrient rich than in decades past. There is also a habit, especially in young women, of missing breakfast which ties in with the slight rise in female births.
It’s an interesting thought that we might finally be getting to a stage in our development where we can actually have a say in the gender of our offspring and that by eating cereal for breakfast every day you can raise your chances of having a boy.
"If a mother has plentiful resources then it can make sense to invest in producing a son because he is likely to produce more grandchildren than would a daughter. However, in leaner times having a daughter is a safer bet," stated Dr Fiona Mathews, co-author of the study and member of the School of Biosciences at Exeter University, England.
To read the report in detail, click here.
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