Summer Babies May Enjoy Health Benefits, Study Says
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The time of year a baby is born has been associated with a lot of characteristics, including personality traits (think astrology) and even the little one's chance of future disease.
Here's another one to add to the list: A new study published in the journal Heliyon found that being born during the summer months may have added benefits.
After analyzing nearly 450,000 men and women in the UK, researchers from the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit concluded that babies born during summer months had a higher birth weight and were taller as adults than individuals born during the winter. Additionally, women born in the summer began puberty later in life than their winter-born peers.
Researchers believe these positive impacts to the unborn baby's health are due at least in part to the mother receiving more sun and increased exposure to vitamin D during her second trimester.
"We don't know the mechanisms that cause these season of birth patterns on birth weight, height, and puberty timing," said study co-author John R.B. Perry, M.D. "We think that vitamin D exposure is important and our findings will hopefully encourage other research on the long-term effects of early life vitamin D on puberty timing and health."
Caitlin St John is an Editorial Assistant for Parents.com who splits her time between New York City and her hometown on Long Island. Follow her on Twitter: @CAITYstjohn.
