LONDON, Aug 7: Vegetarian mothers are more likely to give birth to girls, Britain's The Times newspaper reported today, citing new research that examines the impact of diet on the gender of offspring, reports AFP.

The study, conducted at Nottingham University, found that while the national average In Britain is 106 boys bom to every 100 girls, for vegetarian mothers the ratio was Just 85 boys to 100 girls.

"It appears that vegetarians are more likely to have girls than boys," said researcher Pauline Hudson, according to The Times. This may well be a direct influence of their diet although there appears to be no other research in this area."

The survey was based on an audit of some 6,000 pregnant women in 1998 and the results were published in the Practising Midwifejournal.