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Study: Autumn Babies Live Longer
Birth month considered
AP/Luis Romero [30K]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Being born in the fall may extend a person's lifespan by a
few months.
A study appearing Tuesday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences linked the birth months of more than a million people who died in
Denmark and Austria after the age of 50. It then looked for a similar pattern
in Australia.
The study found that adults who were born in Austria between October and
December lived about .6 years longer than those born in the spring, April to
June.
In Denmark, those born in the fall lived about .3 years longer than did
people born in the spring, the study found.
Study results
AP/Guy Reynolds [26K]
The authors, Gabriele Doblhammer and James W. Vaupel of Max Planck Institute
in Rostock, Germany, also checked the pattern of birth month and lifespan in
Australia and found ``a mirror image reversal of that in the Northern
Hemisphere.''
``The mean age of death of people born in Australia in the second quarter of
the year is 78,'' the authors said. ``Those born in the fourth quarter die at
a mean age of 77.65.''
The authors said the difference may be related to nutrition during pregnancy.
More fruits and vegetables are available during the summer and fall months
than during the winter and spring months, the authors said.
This means that a woman pregnant during the summer and fall could have a
better food selection and their babies would be larger and healthier.
Since the seasons in Australia, in the southern hemisphere, are the opposite
of the seasons in Europe, this would explain why the Australian pattern is a
mirror image of the Austrian and Danish patterns, the researchers said. Fresh
fruits and vegetables are more readily available in Australia during the
first half of the year, which are the summer and fall months south of the
equator.
Doblhammer and Vaupel noted that there are many studies showing that
nutrition of a woman during pregnancy can affect the health of her baby for
its lifetime.
``The environment early in life affects the susceptibility of adults to
infections as well as chronic diseases,'' the researchers said in the study.
———
On the Net:
Eurekalert science releases: http://www.eurekalert.org
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