Boys live dangerously in the womb
Open accessAbstract
The growth of every human fetus is constrained by the limited capacity of the mother and placenta to deliver nutrients to it. At birth, boys tend to be longer than girls at any placental weight. Boy's placentas may therefore be more efficient than girls, but may have less reserve capacity. In the womb boys grow faster than girls and are therefore at greater risk of becoming undernourished. Fetal undernutrition leads to small size at birth and cardiovascular disorders, including hypertension, in later life. We studied 2003 men and women aged around 62 years who were born in Helsinki, Finland, of whom 644 had hypertension: we examined their body and placental size at birth. In both sexes, hypertension was associated with low birth weight. In men, hypertension was also associated with a long minor diameter of the placental surface. The dangerous growth strategy of boys may be compounded by the costs of compensatory placental enlargement in late gestation. In women, hypertension was associated with a small placental area, which may reduce nutrient delivery to the fetus. In men, hypertension was linked to the mothers' socioeconomic status, an indicator of their diets: in women it was linked to the mothers' heights, an indicator of their protein metabolism. Boys' greater dependence on their mothers' diets may enable them to capitalize on an improving food supply, but it makes them vulnerable to food shortages. The ultimate manifestation of their dangerous strategies may be that men have higher blood pressures and shorter lives than women. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
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On average, boys have heavier birth weights per gram of placenta.
“On average, boys have heavier birth weights per gram of placenta (173), and thus would be expected to be more numerous in the upper left quadrant.”
From Placental Origins of Chronic Disease (2016) · cites this paper as [173]
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- Authors
- Eriksson, J. G., Kajantie, E., Osmond, C., Thornburg, K., & Barker, D. J. P.
- Affiliations
- University of Helsinki (FI)
- Helsinki University Hospital (FI)
- Southampton General Hospital (GB)
- Oregon Health & Science University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Barker, David J.P.
- Venue
- American Journal of Human Biology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2010-04-07
- Volume
- 22
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 330-335
- ISSN
- 1042-0533 (ISSN-L)
- 1520-6300
- PMC
- PMC3923652
- OpenAlex
- W2144903426
- Cited by
- 590
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 33 · 2025: 50 · 2024: 38 · 2023: 48 · 2022: 47 · 2021: 44 · 2020: 57 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 30 · 2017: 33 · 2016: 24 · 2015: 38 · 2014: 41 · 2013: 20 · 2012: 22
- FWCI
- 16.31
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- American Journal of Human Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- British Heart Foundation
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (T32HL094294, R21HL093617, R01HL102763)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P01HD034430)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Birth, Development, and Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Obstetrics and Gynecology › Pregnancy and preeclampsia studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Prenatal Substance Exposure Effects
- Keywords
- fetal growth, sex differences, placental size, low birth weight, hypertension, fetal malnutrition, maternal diet, maternal height, socioeconomic status, cardiovascular disease, sex differences in longevity, fetal programming
- MeSH terms
- Female, Humans, Hypertension, Infant, Low Birth Weight, Infant, Newborn, Male, Middle Aged, Organ Size, Placenta, Pregnancy, Risk Factors, Sex Factors, Socioeconomic Factors, Prenatal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena, Fetal Development, Body Size
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