Association of Type 1 Diabetes With Month of Birth Among U.S. Youth
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: Seasonal environment at birth may influence diabetes incidence in later life. We sought evidence for this effect in a large sample of diabetic youth residing in the U.S. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We compared the distribution of birth months within the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study (SEARCH study) with the monthly distributions in U.S. births tabulated by race for years 1982–2005. SEARCH study participants (9,737 youth with type 1 diabetes and 1,749 with type 2 diabetes) were identified by six collaborating U.S. centers. RESULTS: Among type 1 diabetic youth, the percentage of observed to expected births differed across the months (P = 0.0092; decreased in October–February and increased in March–July). Their smoothed birth-month estimates demonstrated a deficit in November–February births and an excess in April–July births (smoothed May versus January relative risk [RR] = 1.06 [95% CI 1.02–1.11]). Stratifications by sex or by three racial groups showed similar patterns relating type 1 diabetes to month of birth. Stratification by geographic regions showed a peak-to-nadir RR of 1.10 [1.04–1.16] in study regions from the northern latitudes (Colorado, western Washington State, and southern Ohio) but no birth-month effect (P > 0.9) in study regions from more southern locations. Among type 2 diabetic youth, associations with birth month were inconclusive. CONCLUSIONS: Spring births were associated with increased likelihood of type 1 diabetes but possibly not in all U.S. regions. Causal mechanisms may involve factors dependent on geographic latitude such as solar irradiance, but it is unknown whether they influence prenatal or early postnatal development.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Being born in the spring is associated with a higher chance of having type 1 diabetes.
“and being born in the spring is associated with a higher chance of having type 1 diabetes.8”
From Type 1 diabetes (2014) · cites this paper as [8]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Intake of vitamin D and risk of type 1 diabetes: a birth-cohort study
Hyppönen, E., Läärä, E., Reunanen, A., Järvelin, M., & Virtanen, S. M. (2001) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(01)06580-1 · Cited by 1,920 · see citing works
Incidence of diabetes in youth in the United States
SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study Group*, T. W. G. F. T. (2007) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.297.24.2716 · Cited by 991 · see citing works
SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study Group (2006) · Pediatrics · doi:10.1542/peds.2006-0690 · Cited by 726 · see citing works
Bodnar, L. M., Simhan, H. N., Powers, R. W., Frank, M. P., Cooperstein, E., & Roberts, J. M. (2007) · Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.1093/jn/137.2.447 · Cited by 671 · see citing works
Mathieu, C., Gysemans, C. A., Giulietti, A., & Bouillon, R. (2005) · Diabetologia · doi:10.1007/s00125-005-1802-7 · Cited by 612 · see citing works
Stene, L. C., & Joner, G. (2003) · The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1093/ajcn/78.6.1128 · Cited by 425 · see citing works
Regulation of pancreatic beta-cell mass
Bouwens, L., & Rooman, I. (2005) · Physiological Reviews · doi:10.1152/physrev.00025.2004 · Cited by 411 · see citing works
Use of cod liver oil during pregnancy associated with lower risk of type I diabetes in the offspring
Stene, L. C., Ulriksen, J., Magnus, P., & Joner, G. (2000) · Diabetologia · doi:10.1007/s001250051499 · Cited by 362 · see citing works
Mohr, S. B., Garland, C. F., Gorham, E. D., & Garland, F. C. (2008) · Diabetologia · doi:10.1007/s00125-008-1061-5 · Cited by 330 · see citing works
Beta cell differentiation during early human pancreas development
Hanley, K. P., Brickwood, S., Turnpenny, L., Cameron, I., Ball, S., Wilson, D. I., & Hanley, N. A. (2004) · Journal of Endocrinology · doi:10.1677/joe.0.1810011 · Cited by 312 · see citing works
Armas, L. A. G., Dowell, S., Akhter, M., Duthuluru, S., Huerter, C., Hollis, B. W., Lund, R., & Heaney, R. P. (2007) · Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology · doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2007.03.004 · Cited by 284 · see citing works
In utero dietary exposures and risk of islet autoimmunity in children
Fronczak, C. M., Barón, A. E., Chase, H. P., Ross, C., Brady, H. L., Hoffman, M., Eisenbarth, G. S., Rewers, M., & Norris, J. M. (2003) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/diacare.26.12.3237 · Cited by 223 · see citing works
Scharfmann, R. (2000) · Diabetologia · doi:10.1007/s001250051498 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
Kida, K., Mimura, G., Ito, T., Murakami, K., Ashkenazi, I., Laron, Z., & The Japan Diabetes Society (jds) (2000) · Diabetic Medicine · doi:10.1046/j.1464-5491.2000.00205.x · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Willis, J. A., Scott, R. S., Darlow, B. A., Lewy, H., Ashkenazi, I. E., & Laron, Z. (2002) · Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism · doi:10.1515/jpem.2002.15.5.645 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
The role of vitamin D in protecting type 1 diabetes mellitus
Lương, K. V. Q., Nguyễn, L., & Nguyen, D. N. P. (2005) · Diabetes/Metabolism Research and Reviews · doi:10.1002/dmrr.557 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Seasonality of birth in children and young adults (0–29 years) with type 1 diabetes in Ukraine
Vaiserman, A. M., Carstensen, B., Voitenko, V. P., Tronko, M. D., Kravchenko, V. I., Khalangot, M. D., & Mechova, L. V. (2006) · Diabetologia · doi:10.1007/s00125-006-0456-4 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Seasonality of birth in patients with childhood Type I diabetes in 19 European regions
McKinney, P. A., & on behalf of the EURODIAB Seasonality of Birth Group (2001) · Diabetologia · doi:10.1007/pl00002957 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Month of birth and risk of developing insulin dependent diabetes in south east Sweden
Samuelsson, U., Johansson, C., & Ludvigsson, J. (1999) · Archives of Disease in Childhood · doi:10.1136/adc.81.2.143 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Seasonality of birth in patients with childhood diabetes in The Netherlands
Jongbloet, P. H., Groenewoud, H. M. M., Hirasing, R. A., & Van Buuren, S. (1998) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/diacare.21.1.190 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Lack of Seasonality in the Month of Onset of Childhood IDDM (0.7-15 years ) in Shanghai, China
Ye, J., Chen, R.-G., Ashkenazi, I. E., & Laron, Z. (1998) · Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism · doi:10.1515/jpem.1998.11.3.461 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Month of Birth and Subsequent Development of Type I Diabetes (IDDM)
Laron, Z., Shamis, I., Nitzan, D., & Ashkenazi, I. E. (1999) · Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism · doi:10.1515/jpem.1999.12.3.397 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Grover, V., Lipton, R. B., & Sclove, S. L. (2004) · Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism · doi:10.1515/jpem.2004.17.3.289 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Similar seasonality of birth in type 1 and type 2 diabetes patients: A sign for common etiology?
Vaiserman, A. M., & Khalangot, M. D. (2008) · Medical Hypotheses · doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2008.06.004 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Seasonality of birth and Type 1 diabetes onset in children (0–14 years) in Cuba
Collado‐Mesa, F., Díaz, Ó. D., Ashkenazi, I. E., & Laron, Z. (2001) · Diabetic Medicine · doi:10.1046/j.1464-5491.2001.00590-3.x · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Atkinson, M. A., Eisenbarth, G. S., & Michels, A. W. (2014) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(13)60591-7 · Cited by 2,713 · see citing works
Epidemiology of type 1 diabetes
Maahs, D. M., West, N. A., Lawrence, J. M., & Mayer-Davis, E. J. (2010) · Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinics of North America · doi:10.1016/j.ecl.2010.05.011 · Cited by 1,092 · see citing works
Self-citationViolet-light suppression of thermogenesis by opsin 5 hypothalamic neurons
Zhang, K. X., D’Souza, S., Upton, B. A., Kernodle, S., Vemaraju, S., Nayak, G., Gaitonde, K. D., Holt, A. L., Linne, C. D., Smith, A. N., et al. (2020) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2683-0 · Cited by 154 · see citing works
- Authors
- Kahn, H. S., Morgan, T. M., Case, L. D., Dabelea, D., Mayer-Davis, E. J., Lawrence, J. M., Marcovina, S. M., Imperatore, G., & for the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study Group
- Affiliations
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US)
- Wake Forest University Health Sciences (US)
- Colorado School of Public Health (US)
- Center for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, and Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina;
- Kaiser Permanente (US)
- University of Washington (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kahn, Henry S.
- Venue
- Diabetes Care
- Publisher
- American Diabetes Association
- Published
- 2009-08-12
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 2010-2015
- ISSN
- 0149-5992 (ISSN-L)
- 1935-5548
- PMC
- PMC2768213
- OpenAlex
- W2020532282
- Cited by
- 105
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 4.29
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Diabetes Care (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- American Diabetes Association
- U.S. Public Health Service (00097)
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (P30DK067629)
- National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (U01 DP-000247, U01-DP000246, U01-DP-000250, U01-DP-000254, U01DP000245, U01 DP000248, DP-05069, U01DP000244)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Diabetes and associated disorders
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes Management and Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Birth, Development, and Health
- Keywords
- type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, birth month, season of birth, youth, SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth, latitude, solar irradiance, prenatal development, postnatal development, racial differences
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Child, Child, Preschool, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Female, Humans, Male, Seasons, United States, Prevalence, Racial Groups
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
