Donald Trump’s Election May Have Resulted In Fewer Boys Born In Canada, Study Says
Donald Trump‘s election in 2016 has had many effects on the landscape of politics and elsewhere. As reported by CTV News, one surprising result of his election was recently touched on in a study published in the journal BMJ Open on Monday — a decline in the number of boys born in Ontario, Canada.
According to the research, the birth of boys declined in Ontario three to five months following Trump’s election. Interestingly, CTV News noted this decline was only observed in areas of the province that were “politically liberal-leaning,” with the same effect absent in conservative regions.
The study’s lead author, Dr. Ravi Retnakaran, an endocrinologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, spoke to CTV News on Tuesday and talked about the findings.
“The idea being that liberal-leaning parts of the province might have perceived that event, the outcome of the election, as an adverse societal stressor whereas conservative-leaning parts of the province might not have seen it that way.”
The results were based on data from the Better Outcomes Registry & Network. In particular, the researchers examined all births in Ontario before the election, shortly afterward, and later on. They found the lowest boy-to-girl ratio in March 2017, shortly after Trump became president. However, this decline in boys curbed in the next five months, and the ratio eventually recovered.
“The unexpected outcome of the election led to the characteristic effect on the sex ratio in Ontario that we had predicted, that had been seen after disasters like terrorist attacks,” Retnakaran said.
Google CFO Ruth Porat appears to break down in tears describing the 2016 election results, says Trump's win "was really painful" and the election went "the wrong way." pic.twitter.com/PJPFVTGA7Z
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) September 12, 2018
According to Retnakaran, the effect will not likely repeat itself following the 2020 election. Although he noted that “nobody knows” what will happen in November, he cannot see the results being as “unexpected or shocking” as they were in 2016, when Trump defeated Hillary Clinton, who was favored to win by many polls.
Research has shown that stressful events can lead to a decrease in the proportion of boys to girls born in the following months. For example, terrorist attacks, such as 9/11 and the London bombings, created similar effects. Given this pattern, Retnakaran said he was interested in seeing if Trump’s win would create something similar.
“The day after the election, I just noticed in society a particular mood or atmosphere and this kind of what I would characterize as this sense of anxiety,” he said, which is the moment he conceived the idea of the study.
Many predictions have already begun pouring in about the 2020 election. As The Inquisitr reported, American University political science professor Allan Lichtman — who has correctly called seven of the last eight elections — believes that the coronavirus could “doom” Trump’s re-election if it sparks an economic crisis.
