Children born during summer months time season are likely to be bulkier at birth, enter into puberty a little later and be slightly taller when they become adults. British scientists suppose that additional vitamin D produced by pregnant women in their bodies during hot and sunny months could make this season’s babies become healthier as grownups, even if it is not very clear how the organic processes work.
People who were born in July are on average 3 millimeters taller as adults than individuals who came into the world during winter. The difference in the appearance of a female’s first period is up to a few weeks. Even if the differences are not significant, they still demonstrate that we all are affected to a certain degree by external factors that might not seem so important in the first place.
Scientists interviewed more than 100,000 English grownups between the ages of 35 and 70. Then, experts compared their dates of birth with their physical parameters to figure out the amount of sun rays the participants’ moms might have absorbed during pregnancy months.
The researchers also calculated size, body weight and the age when the females had their first menstrual cycle. The analysis represents the first attempt to make a connection between the start of adolescence in women and their month of birth.
Global studies have also illustrated in the past that the level of a person’s development and his or her health differ based on the birth month, but these trends were not always reliable and sometimes even contradictory. Immediate factors related to people’s birth period that may generate considerably differences in morphological and psychological characteristics have not been discovered until now.
The period of sunlight exposure during pregnancy is essential, having a more powerful effect in the last six months. There is no apparent influence during the first weeks or months of pregnancy, reinforcing the theory that the decisive development of the child takes place during the final stage of pregnancy.
The British specialists think that the connection between sun rays during maternity and wellness in later life may be represented by the vitamin D. This is an element that seems to be engaged in the processes influencing human hormones in adolescence. The national health services suggest that all expectant mothers should take supplement with vitamin D, but this is not the case when people included in the research were conceived.
Consumption of Vitamin D is vital for bone growth and can work as a rate-limiting element for growth, as experts have written in their study. Humans and animals alike show quickest growth during summer months and slowest growth in the winter and fall, when our organism is less prone to developing itself.
These results increase this theory by strongly indicating for the first time a link between the beginning of adolescence in girls and their date of birth. Even if these possible connections are more risky to assume right from the start, the organic level of vitamin D in kids has been associated with the start of puberty in previous studies.
Image source: Saferadiotherapy