Women having a calorie rich diet and regular breakfasts during pregnancy are more likely to give birth to boys.
A joint team of researchers from Universities of Exeter and Oxford followed 740 women at their first pregnancy. These women were questioned about their diet before and during pregnancy.
56% of women having a calorie and energy rich diet gave birth to baby boys. 45% of women having a low calorie diet gave birth to baby girls. Baby boy rate was also high among women taking regular glucose rich breakfasts.
Calorie rich diet is defined as 2,413 calories a day portion, compared to 2,283 low calorie diet. Women having the energy rich diet were reported to have nutrients like potassium, calcium, and vitamins C, E, B12.
Statistical data shows that during the past 40 years the proportion boys have been slowly but constantly declining - about 1 in 1000 births a year. The decline was especially noticed in industrialized countries, where women tend to be on diet for keeping the body shape up.
Concerning the affect of breakfast on baby's sex, researchers have already proved in other studies that glucose levels boost development of male embryos. Those frequently skipping breakfasts have lower levels of blood glucose, leading to lower chances of giving birth to baby boys.
Similar researchers have been also conducted in some animals like invertebrates, horses, cows and some species of deer. The results were also showing that plentiful mothers give birth to more males. This interesting consequence was explained the following way: male species can reproduce more children, this is why females with richer resources are usually reproducing males in order to have more grandchildren.
This research sheds light on reproduction process and gives an opinion about how pregnancy nutrition affects baby's sex. However, researchers advise all pregnant women not to count calories for having a boy or a girl at a whim, but to have a healthy diet before and during pregnancy to have a healthy baby.
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