The Best Parts Of Having A June Birthday, According To Science

Publish date: 2024-09-11

Babies born in June are bigger, taller, optimistic, and more likely to win Nobel Prizes. For spring babies, who are more prone to depression, early puberty, and occasionally fascism, this adds insult to injury. But for everyone else, it signals a positive shift in the science of seasonality for summer babies, who have a lot going for them. Here are some of the advantages of being born in June, according to the research.

June Babies Are Bigger And Taller Adults

June babies tend to be larger at birth and tend to mature into taller adults, according to a study of 450,000 people from the UK. Low birthweight has been linked with infant mortality, developmental disorders, and a host of other conditions, so being born big is nothing to sniff at. The British study also found that individuals born in June are less likely to go through puberty early, which can increase the risk for HPV, teen pregnancy, breast cancer, depression, and diabetes. Meanwhile, growing into a taller adult is just a bonus. Use it to reach the top-shelf bourbon so you can toast your special day in style.

June Babies Aren’t Protected From Disease, But They’re Not At Risk Either

One study of 1,447 people born between 1920 and 1940 found that those with June birthdays were at higher risk for heart disease and diabetes, but a much larger study of nearly two million adults debunked this, finding that June babies are at no greater risk of disease than anyone else. True, June babies lack some of the disease protections the study identified among babies born in February, March, April, May, and July. But June babies can be fairly confident that they’re not at any particular health disadvantage based on their birthday.

A June Birthday Is Linked To A Better Internal Clock…In Mice

Mice born in June have better internal clocks, according to a fascinating study in Nature Neuroscience. Sort of. When newborn mice were exposed to summer light cycles, they stuck to more consistent internal clocks and predictable behavioral patterns than mice exposed to winter light cycles prior to weaning — even when mice in the winter group were exposed to summer light after weaning. Study authors suspect that this is a result of seasonal imprinting, and could apply to humans too.

“We know that the biological clock regulates mood in humans. If an imprinting mechanism similar to the one that we found in mice operates in humans, then it could not only have an effect on a number of behavioral disorders but also have a more general effect on personality,” study coauthor Douglas McMahon, a professor of Biological Sciences at Vanderbilt University, said in a statement. “It’s important to emphasize that, even though this sounds a bit like astrology, it is not: it’s seasonal biology!”

Winter Doesn’t Bum Out People With A June Birthday

People with June birthdays are less likely to experience seasonal affective disorder compared to those born in the winter, research reveals. Like spring babies, summer babies are prone to optimism, or hyperthymic personalities, but they’re also more susceptible to cyclothymia, or rapidly shifting moods. But in a good way — people born in June are at generally low risk for mental illnesses like depression and schizophrenia. So they have mood swings, sure, but they’ve got them totally under control.

June Babies Are More Likely To Win Nobel Prizes