Height depends on month of birth

Gerhard W. Weber (), Hermann Prossinger and Horst Seidler
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Gerhard W. Weber: Institute of Human Biology, University of Vienna Althanstrasse 14
Hermann Prossinger: Institute of Human Biology, University of Vienna Althanstrasse 14
Horst Seidler: Institute of Human Biology, University of Vienna Althanstrasse 14

Nature, 1998, vol. 391, issue 6669, 754-755

Abstract: Abstract Using a large human male population of 507,125, we find clear evidence for a dependence of body height at age 18 on birth month. Over 10 years there is a sinusoidal variation with a period of 1.0 year with maxima in spring and minima in autumn differing by 0.6 cm. Although global environmental factors1 are small and can be studied only with the help of sophisticated methods on very large sample sizes, they might offer insights into still undiscovered mechanisms of human development. This may provide empirical facts for clinical research on the pineal gland and melatonin2.

Date: 1998
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DOI: 10.1038/35781

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