The fascinating reason why more BOYS are being born than GIRLS worldwide
Wow
When it comes to new baby births, it appears boys are outnumbering girls – and there’s a few reasons why this is happening.
In general, the chances of having a boy or a girl are fairly even, however there are 105 baby boy births to 100 girl births worldwide.
According to Dr Alison Behle, a biological anthropologist at the Australian National University, women of “means” are more likely to have sons.
“Women with more resources and family connections and higher socioeconomic status are more likely to have boys,” she told Kidspot.
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Dr Behle studied mothers in Canberra, who earn the highest national average salary and have a higher education than the rest of Australia. The results? There were even more boys born there; 110 boys to 100 girls.
Evolution plays a part too, Dr Behle says.
"Because of the one X and one Y chromosome, boys are more susceptible to stress in utero and early infancy," says Dr Behie.
This means humans have evolved to have more boys as, sadly, some may not survive infancy.
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Another study from Newcastle University found that men with lots of brothers are more likely to have sons.
If we look at the Royal Family as an example, Prince Charles has two brothers and one sister, and he has two sons. Prince William has two sons, and Prince Harry has just welcomed his first baby – a boy. So it seems genes play a part too.
In addition to these theories, at the end of World War One, it was found that in the UK an extra two boys were born for every 100 girls compared to the year before the war started, resulting in a boy baby boom.
Nicola Conville has worked as a journalist and editor for more than 20 years across a wide range of print and online publications. Her areas of expertise are parenting, health and travel. She has two children; Lucy, age eight, and Nathan, age five.
