title: Month of birth and risk of developing insulin dependent diabetes in south east Sweden.
abstract: Environmental factors very early in life may be important for later development of insulin dependent diabetes. Because several of these factors, such as infections, vary with season, we predicted a difference in birth pattern compared with the general population among children who develop diabetes. In a population based study we analysed all 1248 children from seven paediatric departments in the south east part of Sweden to evaluate whether there is such a relation. There was a significant difference in birth pattern in patients with diabetes compared with the general population. Children who developed diabetes at the age of 10-15 years accounted for most of this difference. Boys had a more pronounced difference in birth pattern than girls. Children diagnosed with diabetes during years of high incidence, as well as children with an infection before diagnosis of diabetes, showed a significantly different birth pattern compared with the background population. These results indicate that there is a difference in birth pattern in children who develop diabetes compared with the background population. This supports the theory that environmental factors early in life play a role in the development of diabetes many years later.
authors.affiliation: Division of Paediatrics, Department of Health and Environment, Linköping University, S-581 85 Linköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Samuelsson
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Johansson
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ludvigsson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012307:Risk Factors; D012621:Seasons; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D014798:Vital Statistics