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Is It a Boy or a Girl?
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- Parent Category: Lower-Intermediate News Lessons
- Category: Relationships Lessons
- Written by Chris Cotter
If you search for gender selection on Google, there are more than 500,000 hits. Some sites have simple calendars to follow a woman's cycle, and others have star charts. There are even some websites that sell unusualand expensive services to help choose a baby's gender. But according to a new study, a woman's diet is important.
The study followed the eating habits of 740 first-time mothers before and after they became pregnant. The women were placed into three categoriesbased on how many calories they ate each day. 56% of the women who ate a high-energy diet with a lot of vitamins and minerals had boys. Of the greatest surprise, more sons were born to women who ate cereal each morning.
Over the past forty years in the developed nations of the world, more girls have been born. The study suggests that unhealthy diets cause the change. For example, many adults skipbreakfast or eat unhealthy fast food. Many women also diet, which can lower the amount of vitamins and minerals.
The study didn't make any recommendations. However, if women want to have a son, maybe they should eat food with a lot of vitamins, minerals, and energy.
Preview some of the lesson material:
Warm Up: Do you agree or disagree?:
- In recent years, more girls than boys have been born.
- If it were possible, I would want to choose the gender of my baby.
- I would prefer a son to a daughter.
- I would want to know the gender of my child before he/she were born.
- The food a mother eats affects the gender of a baby.
Questions: Answer the questions to check comprehension.
- What kinds of websites are there if you want to choose the sex of your baby?
- What did the study look at?
- What has happened over the past forty years?
- What could happen if a woman became pregnant while on a diet?
- What does the article conclude?
post-Comprehension: Talk about the following questions in pairs/groups. Remember to support your answers!
- Do you think the method discovered in the study really works? Why/not?
- What are some consequences of gender selection? Are the consequences serious?
- Would you want to know the gender of your unborn child? Why/not?
- Would you want to know of any possible diseases or conditions of your unborn child?
- Will parents be able to someday choose a baby's gender, eye and hair color, IQ, etc?
Google Search: Type "gender selection" into Google. Look at the websites, and/or read additional articles on this topic. Discuss or write an essay about your findings.
