Kids more important than breakfast cereal

Okay, I’ve got to wade in on this. I’m not a scientist, but sometimes a guy has to say what’s on his mind, empirical evidence be damned.

I read a report published last week in the Times of London that said women who eat cereal for breakfast are more likely to have sons instead of daughters. In fact, according to the study, 59 per cent of women who get pregnant after eating high-energy breakfasts end up giving birth to a son.

Who knew? I thought that the sperm determines gender, but it seems a robust bowl of Shreddies can have an effect, too. Wish I had this in mind when my wife and I were trying to conceive. I’d have been pushing the Captain Crunch like there was no tomorrow!

However, we’re lucky. We have a son and a daughter, but I’ll tell you. I don’t think what my wife had for breakfast at the critical and appointed time was a determinant of anything.

She’s not a big breakfast person anyway, and cereal? As the relatives in Rochester like to say, fuggedaboutit. A quick bite of fruit is about as involved as she gets when it comes to breakfast.

She’s not struck on oatmeal, can’t stand the sweet stuff that I love and sets a fine example for the kiddies with healthy choices. Still, I can’t help but wonder. A few more bowlfuls of Cocoa Krispies or Cream of Wheat and we might have two boys now instead.

Teams from Exeter and Oxford universities did plenty of research on this and I shouldn’t scoff. No doubt they took their tasks seriously. A total of 740 pregnant women and their consumption patterns were studied and they gave details of what they ate in the weeks before and after conception.

Me? I can’t recall what I ate yesterday, let alone weeks ago. Not that I am or ever will be pregnant, but I’m sitting in here for pregnant women everywhere who, in my humble opinion, quite likely have a few dozen more relevant things on their minds than what kind of cereal to eat prior to conception.

The study suggests that fewer boys are being born these days because women, who have commitments in the workforce and generally outside the home, aren’t eating a good, high-energy breakfast as regularly as in the past. When it comes time to conceive, lower levels of glucose come into play and the growth and development of male embryos are compromised.

Fascinating. But will this information cause a stampede in the cereal aisle? Should couples planning to have a baby suddenly hoard boxes of Cornflakes or Wheaties? Should I get smart and buy as many shares in Kellogg’s and Quaker Oats Co. as I can?

Nah. Information like this is interesting and provocative, but I doubt it’ll change much in the way men and women relate; the way women manage their pregnancies; and whether breakfast cereals will assume a greater role in family planning.

To my mind, it’s just another intellectual exercise that really doesn’t mean much in the greater scheme. In a world that’s slowly spinning out of control, how men and women share their lives and secure the family unit is what really matters, not whether a bowl of toasty oats or lack thereof produces either a daughter or a son.