title: Season of birth and disordered eating in a population-based sample of young U.S. females.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We used data from a population-based study of 9,039 adolescent and young adult females, followed prospectively since 1996 as part of the Growing Up Today Study (GUTS), to examine the relationship between season of birth and disordered eating in the U.S.
  
  
  METHODS
  We tested whether the distribution of birth season and month differed for participants who had ever reported both underweight and dieting/weight concern symptoms (n = 134) or both frequent bingeing and purging symptoms (n = 77) compared with other GUTS participants.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The two disordered-eating groups had relative birth peaks in the fall and relative birth troughs in the summer compared with other GUTS participants, but only the fall peak was consistently statistically significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It appears that U.S. females born in the fall are more likely to develop disordered eating and that age relative to the rest of their school-year cohort may account for some of this phenomenon.
authors: Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA. javaras@wisc.edu
authors: Kristin N
authors: KN
authors: Javaras
authors: S Bryn
authors: SB
authors: Austin
authors: Alison E
authors: AE
authors: Field
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012621:Seasons; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States