The sex of an unborn baby can be influenced by the diet of their mothers in the early stages of pregnancy, new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has claimed.
It has been suggested that women who eat a full breakfast and a high fat diet at the time of conception are more likely to give birth to a baby boy, while a low fat diet with periods of long fasts favours girls.
Scientists at the University of Missouri analysed the genes in placentas of pregnant mice being fed the different diets and witnessed a genuine difference.
Dr Cheryl Rosenfeld and her colleagues said: " High calorie diets generally favour birth of males over females, whereas low calorie diets tend to favour females over males.
" In humans and mice, food restriction and a suboptimal diet during the period around conception and early pregnancy also lead to a surfeit of daughters, most probably due to selective loss of male foetuses, the most vulnerable sex in the womb."
These findings come shortly after a recent survey showed that 44 per cent of UK mothers believe breastfeeding is always best for a baby.
