Summer time… and the livin’ is easy
LONDON: Babies born in the summer are more likely to be heavier at birth, taller as adults and healthier overall, a study at Cambridge University has found.
Researchers at England’s Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit concluded that pregnant mothers getting more time in the sunshine may be responsible for the differences, but said further tests were needed.
More than half a million people were involved in the study, published in the journal, Heliyon, which studied the growth and development of UK men and women.
Dr John Perry, the
lead author and a senior investigating scientist, said: “When you were conceived and born occurs largely ‘at random’ – it’s not affected by social class, your parents’ ages or their health – so looking for patterns with birth month is a powerful study design to identify influences of the environment before birth.”
Previous studies had reported the effects of birth season on weight and health, leading Perry and the team to study the timing of puberty, an important link between early life and later health.
Their results revealed that babies born in June, July and August were heavier at birth and taller as adults. The study also revealed that girls born in the summer started puberty later – an indication of better health in adult life.
“This is the first time puberty timing has been robustly linked to seasonality,” said Perry. “We were surprised, and pleased, to see how similar the patterns were on birth weight and puberty timing.
“Our results show birth month has a measurable effect on development and health, but more work is needed to understand the mechanisms behind this effect.”
Babies born in the coldest winter months tended to be lighter at birth, shorter as adults and go through puberty earlier.
Researchers concluded the environment in the womb led to differences in early life, including before birth, and development throughout childhood and into adulthood.
They suggested that higher vitamin D exposure in the second trimester of pregnancy could explain the effect.
“We don’t know the mechanisms that cause these seasonof-birth patterns on birth weight, height and puberty timing. We need to understand these mechanisms before our findings can be translated into health benefits,” said Perry. – The Independent