Your date of birth could have an influence on your state of health. Biomedical researchers from the University of Cambridge (UK) have published a study in the review Heliyon demonstrating that the season at birth, closely linked to the rate of exposure in utero in vitamin D, played a role in health status in adulthood.
Summer babies have less precocious puberty
The researchers compared birth season with birth weight, age at puberty, adult height, and body mass index (BMI) for 450,000 participants in the UK. Result: adults born in June, July and August are on average taller than the others. At the same time, the season of birth seems to play a role on the age of puberty. Thus, little girls born in the summer would have their first period at a later age than those born in winter. The latter would even have a greater risk of developing precocious puberty. A medical advantage for young girls born in the summer since later puberty reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and hormone-dependent cancers.
However, the researchers did not observe a significant difference of the season of birth on the overweight or theobesity.
More vitamin D in summer
The underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood, but researchers suggest a possible role of exposure in utero with vitamin D. This one is indeed produced under the action of the sun. Now the mothers of the summer babies benefited from a period ofsunshine in the months preceding the birth more important than those of winter babies. According to the researchers, the duration of sunshine would be particularly beneficial during the last trimester of pregnancy. During this period, the amount of vitamin D could have a significant impact on the development of the unborn child, persisting at least until puberty.
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