Evidence For Maternal Diet Prior To Conception Influencing Fetal Sex In Humans

Main Category: Nutrition / Diet
Also Included In: Biology / Biochemistry
Article Date: 18 Apr 2008 - 7:00 PDT

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This study provides the first clear evidence that infant sex is associated with a mother's diet around the time of conception.

56% of women in the highest third of energy intake had sons, compared with 45% in the lowest third, and other nutrients were also associated with infant gender.

Dietary changes may therefore explain the falling proportion of male births in industrialised countries. The existence of 'natural' mechanisms of sex allocation is relevant to current debates about the selection of sex for social reasons in fertility treatment, and the opening of commercial 'gender clinics' in the USA and Europe.

Proceedings B is the Royal Society's flagship biological research journal, dedicated to the rapid publication and broad dissemination of high-quality research papers, reviews and comment and reply papers. The scope of journal is diverse and is especially strong in organismal biology.
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