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According to a report from researchers at Oxford and the University of Exeter in England, a child’s sex is associated with a mother’s diet. This is said to be the first evidence which shows that a mother’s diet may decide the gender of a child. Although in medical terms sex is genetically determined by the sperm supplied by the father; whether it’s an X or Y chromosome, but it appears that a mother’s body can favor the successful development of a male or female embryo.

Although the reason behind this finding is not fully understood however, in vitro fertilization studies show that high levels of glucose encourage the growth of male embryos while inhibiting female embryos. It shows a link between higher energy intake around the time of conception and the birth of sons. The difference is not huge, but it may be enough to help explain the falling birthrate of boys in industrialized countries, including the United States and Britain.

The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

It is possible that that male embryos are less viable in women who do not take enough food particularly skipping breakfast which reduces glucose levels in the body. A low glucose level may be interpreted by the body as indicating poor environmental conditions and low food availability, the researchers said.

The data is based on a study of 740 first-time pregnant mothers in Britain who didn’t know the sex of their fetus. They provided records of their eating habits before and during the early stages of pregnancy, and researchers analyzed the data based on estimated calorie intake at the time of conception. Among women who ate the most, 56 percent had sons, compared with 45 percent among women who ate the least. 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. There was also a strong correlation between women eating breakfast cereals and producing sons.