Happy birthday, or is it?
A nursery rhyme it may be, but scientists are discovering that our birth date predicts more about our future health and happiness than we imagine.
Researchers reporting in a recent issue of the journal, JAMA Neurology, say that spring babies, born in May, can have significantly lower levels of vitamin D and, consequently, a higher risk of developing multiple sclerosis than babies born in November. But do the month and season of our birth reveal anything else?
If you want to become a professional footballer or Olympic athlete, then your chances are raised considerably if you are born at this time of year. One study, by the Association of Football Statisticians, shows that 40% of players at top clubs were born in September, November and December, compared with only 15% born in the summer.
The advantage of being up to 12 months older than their classmates means that autumn children are not just bigger and stronger than summer ones, but have better strategic thinking and spatial awareness, qualities that develop with maturity. Being born in autumn could give a child other advantages.
Researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry found that autumn-born pupils felt less pressure to keep up with their peers, and were less inclined to suffer from mental-health problems than others in their year.
The trend continues through life. Babies born in October and November have the greatest life expectancy, best chance of good health and, while they may be more prone to allergies and asthma, they are at less risk of multiple sclerosis and arthritis.
According to Harvard University researchers, babies born between December and February grow into taller, brighter and more successful adults than their summer counterparts.
Why? Because a mother who gives birth in spring spends the last phase of pregnancy in the winter, when she is less likely to consume a full range of healthy nutrients. She may also stop breastfeeding during the hot weeks of summer, when babies are more prone to infections of the digestive system, the researchers say. It’s less common for children born in winter to need the services of an optician, as they have better long-range eyesight throughout their life and they are less likely to wear strong, corrective glasses.
But it’s not all good news. According to Southampton University researchers, the body retains fat in a colder climate, for insulation.
Being a winter babe could also increase your risk of getting heart disease, say researchers at the University of Bristol. Cold weather triggers insulin-resistance and increased circulation of blood fats, both of which are linked to cardiovascular problems in adulthood.
Studies of women in the 19th century showed that those born in the spring had longer reproductive lifespans, larger numbers of live births and raised more children to adulthood than those born in winter.
But the joys of spring do not abound when it comes to the season’s other influences on your health and self-esteem.
Having a birthday in March, April or May means you are more likely to have Alzheimer’s, childhood diabetes or multiple sclerosis.
One researcher, Paul Winchester, a professor of clinical paediatrics at Indiana University, says that babies born in the spring could be less intelligent because of the effect of pesticides used by farmers at that time of year. It’s not all doom and gloom.
Spring babies tend to be 2.2mm taller than winter babies and height is often correlated to longer a lifespan.
And psychologists have also shown that spring-born adults are anything but as world-weary as we might imagine, with a more positive outlook and upbeat mood than those born at other times of the year.
The good news for parents of babies born in the summer is that they are better behaved and are less likely to play truant from school. Beyond this, the outlook is not quite as sunny.
Summer children are more likely to be bullied by classmates and are disproportionately likely to be treated for ADHD.
Women with eating disorders and body-image problems are more likely to have been June babies, and August babies are more at risk of the inflammatory bowel condition, Chron’s disease.
Despite the apparent emotional and physical burden of a summer birthday, children born from June through to August bear up remarkably well, and are less likely to suffer from depression than anyone. They also consider themselves luckier than those born in autumn and winter, a study by British and Swedish scientists found.
One explanation for this, said psychologists at the University of Hertfordshire, is that the rates of post-natal depression are much higher among mothers of winter-born babies, whereas mothers who give birth when the sun shines interact with their children more positively during those important first few months of bonding.
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