A new research has found a correlation between a mother's diet and the gender of her offspring. The study was recently concluded by genetics experts in the Universities Oxford and Exeter.

In a program that involved 740 pregnant women, it was observed that the upper 56 percent in the lot who had high-energy diets before and during the early stages of their pregnancy had sons, while their counterparts who chose low carbohydrate and glucose intakes had daughters.

The researchers said that this discovery can help explain why the number of male births in industrialized nations has been falling in recent years. Young women in the US, Canada, and the UK tend to favor lower-energy food intake to control weight gain.

Exeter's Dr. Fiona Matthews says their research is particularly interesting because it can be nuanced to the issue surrounding the debate on whether or not to regulate "gender clinics" that offer their services to parents who wish to have a hand in selecting their offspring's sex.

"Here we have evidence of a “natural” mechanism that means that women appear to be already controlling the sex of their offspring by their diet," she adds.

It has long been believed that sperm type is the primary determinant of a human fetus' gender, but food intake seems to hold a significant influence on these matters as well. This is supported by data from IVF births where it was observed that male zygotes thrive in glucose-rich conditions while female zygotes are inhibited.