Mother's diet and child's sex

Researchers say a woman's diet at the time of conception could determine the sex of the unborn child.

A study from the Universities of Exeter and Oxford found that higher calorie intake around the time of conception is linked to the birth of sons.

They also found a strong correlation between women eating breakfast cereals and producing sons.

The team did not uncover a correlation between smoking, drinking and the body mass index (BMI) of a mother and the sex of her child.

The researchers also say that although this research provides the first link between a human mother's diet and the sex of her offspring, there is still no evidence that diet during pregnancy, rather than around the time of conception, plays any role in the sex of a fetus.

They studied 740 first-time pregnant mothers in the UK who did not know the sex of their fetus.

The women were asked to provide records of their eating habits before and during the early stages of pregnancy and were then split into three groups according to the number of calories consumed per day around the time they conceived.

Over half (56 per cent) of the women in the group with the highest energy intake at conception had sons, compared with 45 per cent in the lowest group.

As well as consuming more calories, women who had sons were more likely to have eaten a higher quantity and wider range of nutrients, including potassium, calcium and vitamins C, E and B12.

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