Summer Babies May Be Healthier as Adults
There’s more than astrological signs to consider when you’re contemplating a birthdate for your child: New research shows that babies born in summer months grow up to be healthier than other adults.
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Nearly half a million participants were involved in the Cambridge University study, which found that summer-born babies were slightly heavier at birth, taller as adults, and went through puberty slightly later than those born in winter months.
Dr. Ken Ong, pediatrician at the University of Cambridge MRC Epidemiology Unit and co-author of the study, tells Yahoo Parenting that the suspected link between summer births and healthier adulthood is the amount of vitamin D generated by the mothers, which is directly affected by how much sunlight they get during pregnancy.
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So should future parents strive to time their child’s conception to a June-July-August due date? “It’s hard not to consider this positive reason to have a baby in the summer,” Dr. Sherry Ross, an OB/GYN based in Santa Monica, Calif., tells Yahoo Parenting. “With the way we plan our entire lives now, parents might try to control this, too.”
But Ong doesn’t recommend parents stressing out about timing. Instead, he has another suggestion. “Pregnant and breastfeeding women are advised to take a small vitamin D supplement — 400 international units — and we encourage better awareness of and compliance with that advice,” he says. Some experts believe that supplements may actually work as well as sunlight.
Ross agrees that this research adds another layer to the great value of vitamin D. “Women who have high levels of D have fewer medical complications and a lower c-section rate,” she says. Just one more reason to book a babymoon in a sunny paradise.
(Photo: Monashee Alonso/Getty Images)
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