It's not the first time that the Daily Mail has published a controversial piece but the article that they brought out yesterday couldn't be more ridiculous. In "Give birth in March for a pilot, August for a chief exec or December for a dentist..." (the length of the headline says all about the quality of the text) Chris Brooke reports about the results of a study that analysed the birth months of people in 19 separate occupations using information from the last census.
The results indicate that a person's month of birth is connected to their later profession and therefore could tell you if your child is likely to end up a dictator with a low IQ (that would be all April borns) or a brick layer that has the potential to be linked to Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe, J K Rowling and all other July babies).
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| Copyright: Daily Mail online |
If you believe researchers, the month in which a baby is born affects factors such as length of life, intelligence or health problems and apparently, all of this has to do with a mum's exposure to sunlight in pregnancy. As sunlight triggers the production of vitamin D, a lack of this in the first months of life can have long-lasting effects. Russell Foster, an Oxford University neuroscientist, states: "It seems absurd the month in which you are born can affect life chances, but how long you live, how tall you are, how well you do at school, your body mass index as an adult, your morning-versus-evening preference and how likely you are to develop a range of diseases are all correlated to some extent with the time of year in which you emerge from the womb."
Well, my dear researchers, what about babies that actually haven't been born in the UK but somewhere nice and sunny? What about mums that spent most of their pregnancy in a warm country and what about the intellectual and financial background you come from? I could imagine that at least the latter might have a slight influence on your development. I am not saying that saying that professors can't give birth to a brick layer but in my eyes it is highly unlikely that a child from an upper class background that has a good education and grows up in a financially stable environment, decides to take up a profession that couldn't be further from their parents' job. Don't you think that your parents' education has a big influence on how you are brought up? On the things you learn and get to experience in your life?
According to said study, I have just given birth to a baby that will have health problems, a low IQ and that will walk in the foot steps of Hitler and Saddam Hussein. I myself seem to have messed it up: Ok, I don't know if I will live 215 days longer than anyone else but for sure I am not residing in Downing Street No10 - but don't worry, I'll let you know if you have to change my address on your Christmas card list!
What do you think about this study? Can you find any parallels with your life or have you given birth to a serial killer that refuses to be one?
