influence of seasonal birth in humans

File:Graphic birthday rank USA.svg

The season in which babies are born can have an effect on their future risk of developing neurological disorders like seasonal affective disorder, bipolar depression, and schizophrenia;{{cite journal | vauthors = Disanto G, Morahan JM, Lacey MV, DeLuca GC, Giovannoni G, Ebers GC, Ramagopalan SV | title = Seasonal distribution of psychiatric births in England | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 7 | issue = 4 | pages = e34866 | date = 2012-04-04 | pmid = 22496872 | pmc = 3319623 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0034866 | bibcode = 2012PLoSO...734866D | doi-access = free }} as well as type I diabetes.{{cite journal | vauthors = Watson PE, McDonald BW | title = Seasonal variation of nutrient intake in pregnancy: effects on infant measures and possible influence on diseases related to season of birth | journal = European Journal of Clinical Nutrition | volume = 61 | issue = 11 | pages = 1271–80 | date = November 2007 | pmid = 17299488 | doi = 10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602644 | s2cid = 25462412 }} Research has shown that the season of a baby’s birth can have an effect on whether or not they will become a heavy smoker. Although the aspects of this effect differ by sex, the effect exists across both of them.{{cite journal | vauthors = Riala K, Hakko H, Taanila A, Räsänen P | title = Season of birth and smoking: findings from the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort | journal = Chronobiology International | volume = 26 | issue = 8 | pages = 1660–72 | date = December 2009 | pmid = 20030548 | doi = 10.3109/07420520903534484 | s2cid = 2486064 }}

Recently, large-scale population analytics have allowed for the exploration of birth month/season hypotheses among large cohorts of people. One study used 1.7 million patients from Columbia University in New York City (NYC) to confirm associations between neurological conditions, respiratory condition and reproductive conditions with birth month.{{cite journal | vauthors = Boland MR, Shahn Z, Madigan D, Hripcsak G, Tatonetti NP | title = Birth month affects lifetime disease risk: a phenome-wide method | journal = Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association | volume = 22 | issue = 5 | pages = 1042–53 | date = September 2015 | pmid = 26041386 | pmc = 4986668 | doi = 10.1093/jamia/ocv046 }} In addition, they uncovered an association between cardiovascular diseases and birth month. This was subsequently confirmed in a separate study, also using data from NYC.{{cite journal | vauthors = Li L, Boland MR, Miotto R, Tatonetti NP, Dudley JT | title = Replicating Cardiovascular Condition-Birth Month Associations | journal = Scientific Reports | volume = 6 | pages = 33166 | date = September 2016 | pmid = 27624541 | pmc = 5021975 | doi = 10.1038/srep33166 | bibcode = 2016NatSR...633166L }} Researchers also explored mechanisms correlated with birth season in a large population study including data from 10.5 million patients, from three countries (US, South Korea, and Taiwan) and six study sites.{{cite journal | vauthors = Boland MR, Parhi P, Li L, Miotto R, Carroll R, Iqbal U, Nguyen PA, Schuemie M, You SC, Smith D, Mooney S, Ryan P, Li YJ, Park RW, Denny J, Dudley JT, Hripcsak G, Gentine P, Tatonetti NP | display-authors = 6 | title = Uncovering exposures responsible for birth season - disease effects: a global study | journal = Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association | volume = 25 | issue = 3 | pages = 275–288 | date = March 2018 | pmid = 29036387 | pmc = 7282503 | doi = 10.1093/jamia/ocx105 | doi-access = free }} They found correlations between relative age and school cutoff periods. And that first trimester exposure to fine air particulates increased the risk of atrial fibrillation later in life.

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There is evidence that suggests that children born earlier in an academic year gain an advantage over their later-born classmates:

:"In Britain the academic year begins in September, and there may be almost a year's chronological age difference between the eldest (September birthday) and youngest (August birthday) children in the same class. There is evidence that, in this context, children born in the autumn term (September to December birthdays) perform better academically, relative to their class peers, than those born in the spring term (January to April birthdays), who in turn outperform those born in the summer term (May to August birthdays)."{{cite journal | vauthors = Russell RJ, Startup MJ | title = Month of birth and academic achievement | journal = Personality and Individual Differences | date = January 1986 | volume = 7 | issue = 6 | pages = 839–46 | doi = 10.1016/0191-8869(86)90082-6 }}

{{see also|Seasonal effects on suicide rates}}

Birth rates of people who later die by suicide show disproportionate excess for April, May and June compared with the other months. Overall, the risk of suicide increases by 17% for people born in the spring–early summer compared with those born in the autumn–early winter; this risk increase was larger for women (29.6%) than for men (13.7%).{{cite journal | vauthors = Salib E, Cortina-Borja M | title = Effect of month of birth on the risk of suicide | journal = The British Journal of Psychiatry: The Journal of Mental Science | volume = 188 | issue = 5| pages = 416–22 | date = May 2006 | pmid = 16648527 | doi = 10.1192/bjp.bp.105.009118 | s2cid = 13558795 | doi-access = free }}

Research works in Sweden show that those who preferred suicide by hanging rather than poisoning or petrol gases were significantly more likely to be born during February–April. Maximum of the month-of-birth curve for preferring hanging was for March–April and the minimum was for September–October.{{cite journal | vauthors = Chotai J, Salander Renberg E | title = Season of birth variations in suicide methods in relation to any history of psychiatric contacts support an independent suicidality trait | journal = Journal of Affective Disorders | volume = 69 | issue = 1–3 | pages = 69–81 | date = May 2002 | pmid = 12103454 | doi = 10.1016/s0165-0327(00)00379-7 }}

However, other studies have shown that there is no effect of season of birth on psychological disorders, such as depression and anxiety. {{Cite journal |last=Csajbók |first=Zsófia |last2=Kagstrom |first2=Anna |last3=Cermakova |first3=Pavla |date=2022-04-26 |title=Season of birth has no effect on symptoms of depression and anxiety in older adults |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-10892-8 |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=6823 |doi=10.1038/s41598-022-10892-8 |issn=2045-2322|pmc=9042812 }}

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Category:Seasonality

Category:Child development

Category:Human reproduction