Season of birth and disordered eating in a population‐based sample of young U.S. females

Abstract

Objective We used data from a population-based study of 9,039 adolescent and young adult females, followed prospectively since 1996 as part of the Growing Up Today Study (GUTS), to examine the relationship between season of birth and disordered eating in the U.S. Methods We tested whether the distribution of birth season and month differed for participants who had ever reported both underweight and dieting/weight concern symptoms (n=134) or both frequent bingeing and purging symptoms (n = 77) compared to other GUTS participants. Results The two disordered-eating groups had relative birth peaks in the fall and relative birth troughs in the summer compared to other GUTS participants, but only the fall peak was consistently statistically significant. Discussion It appears that U.S. females born in the fall are more likely to develop disordered eating and that age relative to the rest of their school-year cohort may account for some of this phenomenon.

Birth month and risk of atopic dermatitis: a nationwide population-based study

“…The results of previous studies identified the month or season of birth as associated with type 1 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, anorexia nervosa, suicide, multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia, bulimia nervosa, disordered eating, and hip osteoarthritis . The increased risk of type 1 diabetes was investigated among young people aged 20 years and younger in the United States .…”