Scientists working in Ethiopia say they have found evidence that how much a woman eats affects the sex of her fetus. The researchers published an article in the Journal of the Royal Society, saying that this may be a natural way for human beings to fight famine. Scientists have found that when food is scarce, better-nourished women are twice as likely to have boys as malnourished women. Researchers at University College London said that this is the first time that there is evidence that food supply is related to the sex of human fetuses.
The related theory is roughly as follows: if the female fetus is male, then the burden of the mother is greater than that of the baby girl. Malnourished boys are also more likely to die than malnourished girls. Three years ago, there was a serious shortage of food supply in southern Ethiopia. The researchers found that during this period, in the local rural Oromo community, those women with relatively good nutrition were more likely to have boys, while those women with poor nutrition were more likely to have girls.