2026/07/01 by Arta Grabcika, Dzintra Kazoka, Dzintra Kažoka +4
Medicine · Nursing · #Birth, Development, and Health #Breastfeeding Practices and Influences #Child Nutrition and Water Access
paper · doi:10.1002/ajhb.70311
openalex publication_date 2026/07/01 · openalex created_date 2026/07/13 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/27
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Birth season has been proposed as a proxy for various prenatal and early-life environmental exposures that may influence human growth and development. This study aimed to evaluate whether anthropometric parameters in Latvian children aged 9-14 years differ by birth season. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A longitudinal study was conducted on 203 healthy Latvian children aged 9-14 years at the Anthropology Laboratory of the Institute of Anatomy and Anthropology, Riga Stradins University. Anthropometric measurements included height, weight, head circumference, chest circumference, and distantia intercristale. Children were classified into four groups according to their birth season: winter (December-February), spring (March-May), summer (June-August), and autumn (September-November). RESULTS: Anthropometric parameters increased progressively with age across all seasonal groups. No statistically significant seasonal differences were observed for body height, body weight, head circumference, chest circumference, or distantia intercristale at any age (all p > 0.05). Seasonal variations were generally small, and effect sizes ranged from negligible to small across all anthropometric measures. CONCLUSIONS: Minor seasonal differences in mean anthropometric values were observed; however, no consistent pattern favoring a particular birth season emerged. These findings suggest that birth season has little influence on anthropometric development between 9 and 14 years of age. Instead, age-related growth and pubertal maturation appear to be the primary determinants of variation in body size and proportions. This study provides longitudinal, population-specific data on childhood growth in Latvia and contributes to understanding the role of early-life environmental factors in physical development.