It’s official: children born in the summer are taller and have stronger bones than their winter classmates. Well, I’d like to say a big thanks to my parents for having me in March. Heaven knows what size I’d have been if they’d have got cosy in Autumnal months!
Latest research has concluded that by the time they are 10, summer children are an average of 0.5cm taller and have almost 13cm more bone area than winter kids, British researchers said after studying 7000 children.
Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists president Dr Ted Weaver said vitamin D exposure had a big impact on baby size, which continued into height and health in later life.
Dr Weaver said ante-natal screening for vitamin D was becoming increasingly important, particularly for Muslim women who are shielded from the sun by their burkas.
Born on Tuesday at Monash Medical Centre in Australia, after one of the state’s sunniest periods, Alasdair Duell measured 54cm -well above the 50cm average for newborns and enough for East Bentleigh parents Megan Fisher and Ken Duell to dream of a future as an AFL ruckman or big-serving tennis star.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
R 04.03.09 at 5:17 pm
I reckon this is a bit dubious, otherwise you’d expect the average height for people in hotter countries to be higher than everywhere else, but that doesn’t necessarily seem to be the case.
Stefanie Grace 04.05.09 at 12:19 pm
Well I’m 5′10 and I was born in June! My brother is 6′2 and was born in July!
mily 05.19.09 at 6:39 pm
Aha, that’s why I’m so tall…I was born in summer!
amy 05.19.09 at 6:40 pm
I hope to have kids in summer then