Variations in the birth-season effects on height attainment in the two Koreas

Abstract

Birth season-height patterns of Koreans follow the typical global pattern, but extreme environmental circumstances during the North Korean food crisis appear to have significantly disrupted that pattern.

The influence of birth season on height: Evidence from indonesia

“…For example, Weber et al () reported a seasonal difference of 6 mm. Schwekendiek et al () found no statistically significant difference in height, save for one sample. When z ‐scores are compared, ours (0.061 for men and 0.067 for women) are smaller than those found by Henneberg and Louw () in South African children (∼0.10–0.15), by Kościński et al (2004) in Polish children (0.17 for boys, weakly significant and 0.10 for girls, statistically nonsignificant), and by Pomeroy et al () in Peruvian children (amplitude of 0.22 in cosinor analysis).…”

“…They witnessed peak birth length among children born in spring and fall. To complicate matters even further, Schwekendiek et al () considered data on 1,978 preschool boys exposed to North Korea's food crisis in the 1990s and found that those born in fall (September–November) were tallest, while those born in spring (March–May) were shortest. However, the tallest group comprised those born in spring among colonial Korean men, those born in winter among South Korean men who had been surveyed in 2003, those born in spring among North Korean men who had not been affected by the food crisis during their growth periods and had defected to South Korea in the years up to 2007 (ages were restricted to 20–40 years for all samples), and those born in spring among North Korean preschool boys born after the food crisis.…”

“…This study concerned seasonal patterns in growth rate rather than the influence of birth season on height, but it anticipated growing interest in the latter. In addition to numerous individual studies, Orr and Clark (), Marshall (), Fitt (), Krogman (), Tanner (), Gindhart (), and Schwekendiek () have also reviewed study findings. These reviews generally agree that cohorts born in late spring and early summer are tallest, while cohorts born in late fall and early winter are shortest.…”

Season of Birth in Suicides: Excess of Births during the Summer among Schizophrenic Suicide Victims

“…Many studies in recent decades have found associations between the season of birth and the risk of somatic diseases [1,2,3], raising the assumption that early environmental exposure in utero and during infancy may influence the risk in adulthood. Similarly, these studies have consistently suggested that the month of birth may affect the physiological features of human beings [4,5,6,7,8]. …”

Month of Birth, Socioeconomic Background and Height in Rural Chinese Men

“…This anomalous birth month/height pattern might be a result of the adverse conditions during or shortly after the 1959-1961 famine. For example, studies of North Korea famine have demonstrated that Koreans born during the famine of the 1990s resulted in an anomalous birth month/height pattern that is not consistent with the pattern found for North Koreans born in non-famine years, or for South Koreans; this may be related to the disruption caused by the adverse living conditions during the famine (Schwekendiek, 2009;Schwekendiek et al, 2009). In China, the anomalous birth month/height pattern reported here may be related to stunting effects of famine on growth (Chen & Zhou, 2007;Gørgens et al, 2007;Meng & Qian, 2009), selective effects of excess mortality (Ashton et al, 1984;Peng, 1987;Song, 2009;Dikötter, 2010) and miscarriage (Cai & Wang, 2005).…”