In a newly reported study, women who ate breakfast cereal gave birth to more boys, while those who skipped breakfast had more girls. Women who ate more total calories also delivered more boys, even though the overall male-to-female birth ratio among the study participants was close to 50/50.

The early findings in no way prove that what a woman does or doesn’t eat prior to conception influences her baby’s sex. But they do hint at a sex-selection bias among humans similar to that seen in other animals, favoring male births among well-fed mothers and female births among mothers who are less well nourished.

They may also help explain a subtle decline in the proportion of male births in industrialized countries like the U.S., researcher Fiona Mathews, PhD, says. “It is true that there is an obesity epidemic, but there is also an increase in dieting and very unstable dietary habits among young women,” she says. “And more people are skipping breakfast. Our data suggest that these things may play a role in the small but noticeable decline in male births.” Read more

A new study shows that while mulling over a few options may weigh heavily on your mind, finally choosing one may just plain wear you out. Study author Kathleen D. Vohs, PhD, of the University of Minnesota’s marketing department, and researchers from several other universities have determined that making choices, as opposed to just thinking about options, can be mentally draining. Those with too many choices — good or bad — have trouble remembering to take their medicine and staying focused on everyday tasks.
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“Marriage must be of a high quality to be advantageous” for blood pressure, the study states. “In other words, one is better off single than unhappily married.” The study included 204 married people and 99 single men and women. Participants were 20-68 years old (average age: 31).

Most of the singles 89% had never been married; none was living with a partner. Married participants had been married for eight years, on average, note the researchers, who included Julianne Holt-Lunstad, PhD, of Brigham Young University’s psychology department. Participants wore a blood pressure monitor that tracked their blood pressure around the clock for 24 hours. They also rated their marital satisfaction in a survey. Happily married people had the best blood pressure. Singles ranked second. The unhappily married had the worst blood pressure of those three groups. Read more

If Goldilocks had lower back pain, she’d still prefer the bed that was just right. It’s one of the most common questions back pain patients ask. Which is better — Daddy Bear’s hard mattress or Mommy Bear’s soft one?

Kim Bergholdt, DC, of Denmark’s Funen Back Center, and colleagues tried to find an answer. They randomly assigned 160 patients with lower back pain to sleep in one of three beds for one month. When the truck pulled up to the patients’ houses, it delivered either a hard futon, a water bed (Akva brand), or a body-conforming foam mattress (Tempur brand). Akva and Tempur sponsored the study, although Innovation Futon provided the harder beds.

Unfortunately, many of the patients assigned to the water bed never started the study — they did not want to sleep on a water bed. And many of the patients assigned to the futon quit the study before it was over. The large number of dropouts and the failure to stratify the patients according to the cause of their back pain — makes the study hard to interpret, says Robert Molinari, MD, associate professor of orthopaedics at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
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