食事が赤ちゃんの性別を左右
News Release from the University of Exeter on April 23, 2008.
(C) morguefile & PRISONBREAK
英国の研究で,生まれてくる子供の性別が妊娠した時の母親の食生活と関係していることが明らかになった。初回妊娠中の女性740名に対して,妊娠前と妊娠初期の食習慣を調査し,カロリー摂取量別に3つのグループに分けたところ,男の子を出産したのは,1日のカロリー摂取量が最も多いグループで56%,最も少ないグループで45%だった。また,多様な栄養素を多く摂った女性の方が,男の子を産む傾向が高かった。先進国では男子の出生率が40年間下降し続けているが,これには女性の食生活の変化が影響しているのかもしれない。(吉田素子)
New research by the Universities of Exeter and Oxford provides the first evidence that a child’s sex is associated with(1) the mother’s diet. Published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society(2) B: Biological Sciences(3), the study shows a clear link between higher energy intake(4) around the time of conception(5) and the birth of sons. The findings may help explain the falling birth-rate(6) of boys in industrialised countries(7), including the UK and US.
The study focused on(8) 740 first-time pregnant(9) mothers in the UK, who did not know the sex of their fetus(10). They were asked to provide records of their eating habits(11) before and during the early stages of pregnancy(12). They were then split into three groups according to(13) the number of calories(14) consumed(15) per day around the time they conceived(16). 56% of the women in the group with the highest energy intake at conception had sons, compared with 45% in the lowest group. As well as consuming(17) more calories, women who had sons were more likely to have eaten a higher quantity and wider range of nutrients(18), including potassium(19), calcium(20) and vitamins C, E and B12(21). There was also a strong correlation(22) between women eating breakfast cereals(23) and producing sons.
Over the last 40 years there has been a small but consistent(24) decline(25), of about one per 1000 births annually(26), in the proportion of(27) boys being born in industrialised countries, including the UK, the USA and Canada. Previous(28) research has also shown a reduction in the average energy intake in the developed world(29).
(1) ~と関連している (2) 英国王立協会紀要(雑誌名) (3) 生物科学 (4) エネルギー摂取量
(5) 受胎 (6) 出生率 (7) 産業国 (8) 焦点を絞った (9) 妊娠している (10) 胎児 (11) 食習慣
(12) 妊娠 (13) ~に従って (14) カロリー (15) 摂取された (16) 妊娠した (17) ~を摂取すること
(18) 栄養素 (19) カリウム (20) カルシウム (21) ビタミンC,EおよびB12 (22) 相関関係
(23) 朝食用シリアル (24) 一貫した (25) 減少 (26) 毎年 (27) ~の割合 (28) 以前の (29) 先進国