Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Scientific Correspondence
  • Published:

Height depends on month of birth

Nature volume 391, pages 754–755 (1998)Cite this article

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.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Relationship between body height and birth month.

References

  1. Henneberg, M. & Louw, G. J. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 91, 235–244 (1993).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Kennaway, D. J., Goble, F. C. & Stamp, G. E. J. Clin. Endocr. Metab. 81, 1525–1532 (1996).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Breitinger, F. E. Advances in the Biology of Human Populations 139-148 (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, 1966).

  4. Statistical Handbook of Austria XVII-XXVI (Österreichisches Statistisches Zentralamt, Österreichische Staatsdruckerei, Vienna, 1966 onwards).

  5. Scargle, J. D. Astrophys. J. 263, 835–853 (1982).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Mirmiran, M., Kok, J. H., Boer, K. & Wolf, H. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 16, 371–378 (1992).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Valcavi, R., Zini, M., Maestroni, G. J., Conti, A. & Portioli, I. Clin. Endocrinol. 39, 193–199 (1993).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Bellastella, A. et al. J. Endocrinol. Invest. 17, 37–40 (1994).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Burton, K. A., Kabigting, E. B., Steiner, R. A. & Clifton, D. K. Am. J. Physiol. — Endocrinol. Metab. 32, 716–722 (1995).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Williams, L. M., Hannah, L. T., Hastings, M. H. & Maywood, E. S. J. Pineal Res. 19, 173–177 (1995).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Weber, G. W., Seidler, H., Wilfing, H. & Hauser, G. Ann. Hum. Biol. 22, 277–288 (1995).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Human Biology, University of Vienna Althanstrasse 14, A1090, Vienna, Austria

    Gerhard W. Weber, Hermann Prossinger & Horst Seidler

Authors
  1. Gerhard W. Weber
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hermann Prossinger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Horst Seidler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Weber, G., Prossinger, H. & Seidler, H. Height depends on month of birth. Nature 391, 754–755 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/35781

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35781

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing