Obesity incidence is related to month of birth

Year 2020, , 128 - 132, 23.10.2020

Serpil Cecen

https://doi.org/10.5472/marumj.815578

Cited By: 1

Abstract

Objective: The relationship between the month of birth and obesity status of individuals has been claimed but not proven convincingly.
We aim to provide more evidence towards the presumed relationship between month of birth and physical characteristics of
individuals.
Materials and Methods: We used a Bio-impedance device to determine physical characteristics of 3,000 informed volunteers who
attended our clinic.
Results: We found that the individuals who were born in the first three months of the year were heavier, taller and older than the
applicants who were born in later months of the year.
Conclusion: We can conclude that the month of birth was significantly related to obesity incidence. We believe that this information
will add to the knowledge on the importance of the relationship between birth month and physical and health characteristics of
individuals living in a country with extreme seasonal temperatures.

Keywords

Body mass index, Weight, Fat content, Season

References

• Barker DJ. The developmental origins of adult disease. J Am Coll Nut 2004;23: 588-95. doi: 10.1080/07315.724.2004.1071 9428.
• Kloner RA, Poole WK, Perrit LR. When throughout the year is coronary death most likely to occur? A 12-year population – based analysis of more than 220 000 cases. Circulation 1999;100:1630-4. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.100.15.1630.
• Banegas JR, Rodríguez-Artalejo F, Graciani A, de la Cruz JJ, Gutiérrez-Fisac JL. Month of birth and height of Spanish middle-aged men. Annals of Human Biology 2001;28:15-20. doi.org/10.1080/030.144.60150201841
• Day FR, Forouhi NG, Ong KK, Perry JR. Season of birth is associated with birth weight, pubertal timing, adult body size and educational attainment: A UK Biobank study. Heliyon. 2015;12:1-16. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2015.e00031.
• Reffelmann T, Ittermann T, Empen K, Dörr M, Felix SB. Is cardiovascular mortality related to the season of birth? evidence from more than 6 million cardiovascular deaths between 1992 and 2007. J Am Coll Cardiol 2011;57:887-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2010.10.021.
• Banegas JR, Rodríguez-Artalejo F, de la Cruz JJ, Graciani A, Villar F, del Rey-Calero J. Adult men born in spring have lower blood pressure. J Hypertens 2000;18:1763-6. doi: 10.1097/00004.872.200018120-00009.
• Lv J, Yu C, Guo Y, et al. The associations of month of birth with body mass index, waist circumference, and leg length: findings from the China Kadoorie Biobank of 0.5 million adults. J Epidemiol 2015;25:221-30. doi: 10.2188/jea.JE20140154.
• Tanaka H, Sei M, Binh TQ, Munakata , Yuasa K, Nakahori Y. Correlation of month and season of birth with height, weight and degree of obesity of rural Japanese children. J Med Invest 2007;54:133-9. doi: 10.2152/jmi.54.133.
• Kościński K, Krenz-Niedbała M, Kozłowska-Rajewicz A.Month-of-birth effect on height and weight in Polish rural children. Am J Hum Biol 2004;16:31-42. doi: 10.1002/ ajhb.10232.
• Henneberg M, Louw GJ. Height and weight differences among South African Urban schoolchildren born in various months of the year. Am J Hum Biol 1990;2:227-33. doi: 10.1002/ ajhb.131.002.0304.
• Henneberg M, Louw GJ. Further studies on the month-ofbirth effect on body size: rural schoolchildren and an animal model. Am J Phys Anthropol 1993;91:235-244. doi: 10.1002/ ajpa.133.091.0209.
• Nyaruhucha CN, Achen JH, Msuya JM, Shayo NB, Kulwa KB. Prevalence and awareness of obesity among people of different age groups in educa-tional institutions in Morogoro,Tanzania. East Afr Med J 2003;80:68-72. doi: 10.4314/eamj.v80i2.8648.
• Phillips DI, Young JB. Birth weight, climate at birth and the risk of obesity in adult life. Int J Obes Rela Metab Disord 2000;24:281-7. doi: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0801125.
• Feldman-Winter L, Burnham L, Grossman X, Matlak S, Chen N, Merewood A. Weight gain in the first week of life predicts overweight at 2 years: A prospective cohort study. Matern Child Nutr 2018;14:e12472. doi: 10.1111/mcn.12472.
• Phillips D, Young J. Birth weight, climate at birth and the risk of obesity in adult life. Int J Obes 2000;24:281-7. https://doi. org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0801125