Boys benefit more from breast milk
Breast milk is the best source of nutrition for all babies, but a recent study conducted at the University of Western Australia found that it may benefit boys even more than girls. Researchers compared the academic scores of 10-year-olds who had been breastfed or formula fed as babies, and found that on average, the breastfed babies scored higher on standardised academic tests a decade later. Interestingly, breast milk benefited boys the most. Compared to girls who were also breastfed, boys scored significantly higher results on the tests.
Boys are more prone to physical injury
According to statistics from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the US, boys make up 52.8 percent of the paediatric population for emergency room visits. While the top three reasons for admission are the same in girls and boys (fever, cough and vomiting), for boys, the fourth highest reason is injuries to the head, neck and face, while for girls, reason number four is earache or ear infection.
Boys have less sensitive hearing
In a study of 350 baby girls and boys, Professor Jane Cassidy at Louisiana State University found that newborn girls’ hearing is more sensitive than boys, especially in the 1000-4000 hertz range which is vital for speech discrimination. A subsequent study by Hiroaki Sato of the Eye and Ear Institute of Pittsburgh found that this may be due to differences in the anatomy between the sexes. Girls are born with a shorter and stiffer cochlea than boys, which results in a more sensitive frequency response.
Boys see differently to girls
Numerous studies have revealed that boys’ eyes contain more cells that are responsible for seeing motion, direction and speed, while girls’ eyes contain more cells that are necessary for discerning colour and texture. In addition, boys’ eyes are drawn to cool colours like silver, blue and grey, while girls prefer warmer colours like red, yellow and orange.
Boys outnumber girls at birth
In the Western world, 105 boys are born for every 100 girls (the worldwide ratio is slightly higher at 107 boys to 100 girls due to the prevalence of gendercide in Asia). However, the boy/girl ratio usually evens out by the age of 30 and by the age of 75, women far outnumber males due to longer life expectancy.
Boys’ brains are different from birth
According to Margaret McCarthy, a professor of physiology at the University of Maryland, baby boys are born with roughly the same amount of testosterone as a 25-year-old man. This testosterone level plummets soon after birth, but the high initial levels of testosterone shape a boy’s brain by strengthening the synapses between certain brain cells, and toning others down. In addition, the average boy’s brain is 10-15 percent bigger and heavier than a girls’ brain at birth.
Boys prefer movement over people
In a study conducted at Cambridge University, a group of psychologists gave 12-month-old boys the choice of either looking at a group of people talking, or watching windscreen wipers moving. The vast majority of the little boys preferred to watch the windscreen wipers.