Babies due in October or November are twice as likely to have allergies to common foods like milk and eggs.
It’s not necessarily related to their birth dates, however, but rather the time of year when they are at 11 weeks gestation. The high levels of tree pollen present when babies in utero are just developing their antibodies are thought to be responsible. Also, it is possible that mothers’ low post-winter vitamin D levels at that crucial point in development could be linked to the development in their children’s higher allergy rates.
Of the children studied, 11% of those whose 11th week of gestation occurred in the springtime developed allergies opposed to the 6% of babies who hit 11 weeks during the winter.
The research was carried out at Oulu University Hospital in Finland. According to this story’s source, Life Extension Daily News, “rising rates of asthma and allergies affecting children over the last 30 years have been attributed to a range of triggers including excessively-clean lifestyles, diet and early use of antibiotics.”