Ramadan fasting, sex-ratio at birth, and birth weight: No effects on Muslim infants born in Germany

- I estimate the effect of Ramadan fasting on Muslim newborns in Germany.
- The analysis is based on more than one million observations.
- In contrast to earlier studies no evidence for any medically relevant effect is found.

Recent economic studies have shown negative effects of intrauterine exposure to Ramadan on birth outcomes and long-term economic outcomes. I examine the effect of Ramadan fasting on birth weight and the fraction of male births in Germany, which has large and diverse Muslim communities. Using data on 1 million births to Muslim mothers from 1996 to 2010, I find virtually no effect of Ramadan exposure on either outcome. Earlier results from other countries based on smaller samples can therefore not be generalized.