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Do Winter Babies Really Have Less Fun?

December 24, 2008 11:00 AM

By JOANNA SCHAFFHAUSEN, ABC News Medical Unit

As every good astrologer knows, people love to find hidden meaning in their birth dates. In my immediate family, there are five of us born under the sign of Aquarius, between late January and early February.  This makes us all winter babies, which is bad news according to a report today in USA Today.

The story reads in part: “A large body of research suggests that, on average, winter babies grow up to be less educated, less intelligent, less healthy and lower paid than people born in the spring, summer or fall.”  But it’s all mom’s fault, new research says.  A study from two University of Notre Dame researchers says that winter babies’ lack of success can be blamed on the increased odds that their mother will be poor and uneducated.

There is no question that children of parents with limited education and lower economic status have a host of disadvantages.  They typically do not receive the best health care, nutrition or schooling.  The new research can’t answer the next question, which is why poor and uneducated women would be more likely to give birth in the winter months.  We’ll have to wait to see if that result is confirmed through other studies.

But does the medical literature show such dire results for winter babies?  The answer is no, not really.  There are indeed studies linking a winter birth date with poorer health or lower intelligence, but other studies find just the opposite.

For example, a study tracking more than 12,000 children in Scotland found that late winter babies born in February scored among the highest on intelligence tests.  Fall babies had the lowest scores in this this report.

A Danish researcher named Gabriele Doblhammer has repeatedly demonstrated that late fall and early winter babies live longer than spring or summer babies, though debate continues as to why this might be.

Another study finds women born in the summer months tend to have fewer children. And research from Harvard on more than 22,000 children found those born in the winter months were generally taller, heavier and had superior mental abilities to those born in the summer months.

So which group of studies is right?  The unfortunate truth about scientific research is that all the studies may be correct, meaning there is no ultimate truth to be found.  Results likely depend on the people in the study, the questions asked and the way that researchers interpret the results.

But one truth is certain from all the research: The birth month does not determine the outcome for any one baby.  There will be summer babies who succeed and those who do not; winter babies who live to a ripe old age and those who die too soon.

Trying to determine a child’s future from his or her birth date is like reading the horoscope to find out the day’s events ahead of time.  The information can’t possibly be true for everyone with the same birth month, or it’s so vague it could apply to the entire human population.  Today my horoscope says I may have overstepped my bounds and need to apologize.  Perhaps I should make amends to my husband for leaving Christmas wrapping all over our living room… except his birthday is just four days before mine, so it’s his horoscope too.

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December 24, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (9)

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