People born in the summer are more likely to be healthy than those who arrive during other times of the year, new research suggests.

新研究显示，夏季出生的人要比别的季节出生的人更为健康。

The phenomenon¹ could be caused by mothers getting more sun in pregnancy² - and passing on higher quantities of vitamin D to their unborn infant.

导致此类现象的原因可能是母亲在孕期接受的日照更多，然后将大量的维生素D传输给了他们还未出生的婴儿。

A study of almost half a million British adults found babies born in June, July, and August were heavier at birth and taller as adults.

英国境内一项研究约有50万成人参与，其结果显示：在六、七和八月出生的小宝宝们在出生时体重更重，成年后身高也更高。

For the first time the research also revealed girls born in the summer started puberty later - an indication of better health in adult life.

这项调查首次揭示，夏天出生的女孩的青春期会开始得较晚，这意味着他们在成年后身体会更健康。

Early puberty in girls has been linked with a higher risk of diabetes³, heart disease or breast cancer.

女孩过早地经历青春期通常都和糖尿病、心脏病或者乳腺癌联系起来。

study author Dr John Perry, of Cambridge University, said: 'When you were conceived and born occurs largely "at random⁴".

研究作者约翰·派瑞博士来自剑桥大学，他表示“你是在什么时候受孕，什么时候出生通常都是‘随机’的”。

'It's not affected⁵ by social class, your parents' ages or their health - so looking for patterns with birth month is a powerful study design to identify influences of the environment before birth.'

这和社会阶层，父母年龄和他们的身体状况都没什么关系——所以，探寻出生月份的模式这一研究，对于弄清出生前环境对于婴儿的影响至关重要。

His team compared the growth and development of around 450,000 men and women from the UK Biobank study - a major national health resource that provides data on UK volunteers to shed light on the development of diseases.

他的团队比较了约45万名男女的成长和发展，数据均来自英国生物库。英国生物库是英国主要国家卫生资源，提供了全国志愿者的数据，来帮助人们了解各种疾病的发展。

Previous research has shown children born between June and October are likely to be slightly taller and have bigger bones than winter-born children - believed to be related to vitamin D exposure during pregnancy.

先前的调查已经表明：与冬天出生的孩子相比，六月到十月之间出生的孩子长得更高，骨骼发育得更好的可能性稍大，研究者相信这和母亲孕期摄入维生素D有关。

Babies born in autumn and winter are more likely to develop food allergies⁶ - with sunlight exposure during pregnancy and vitamin D levels also thought to play a role in this.

秋冬季出生的小宝宝们患上食物过敏的可能性也更大——据认为与孕期日晒时间和维生素D的摄入量有关系。

Asthma⁷ is also more common in autumn-born children - and one theory for this is increased exposure to allergens, such as house dust mites⁸, during the first few months of life - because of the worse weather.

哮喘在秋季出生的宝宝中也更常见——其中的一项理论支撑就是此时过敏原更多，比如屋尘螨，因为出生后的头几个月天气比较糟糕。

The team found that children born in the summer were slightly heavier at birth, taller as adults and went through puberty slightly later than those born in winter months.

研究组发现：与冬季出生的孩子相比，夏季出生的孩子在刚出生时体重更重，成年后身高更高，而且青春期也来得比较晚。

They believe the differences between babies born in summer and winter could be down to how much sunlight the mother gets during pregnancy - since that in part determines her vitamin D exposure.

他们认为，造成夏季和冬季出生的宝宝之间的区别的原因就是他们在妈妈孕期受到的日照不同，因为那在某种程度上决定了她所吸收的维生素D。

As early as the 1930s researchers noticed children born in winter were more prone⁹ to health problems later in life - slower growth, mental illness and even early death.

早在20世纪30年代，研究人员就发现冬季出生的孩子在日后更容易产生健康问题——发育迟缓，精神疾病以及早死。

Among the proposed explanations were diseases, harsh temperatures and higher pollution levels associated with winter when those expectant mothers and near-term foetuses might be most vulnerable.

研究人员给出的解释是冬天疾病泛滥，天气苦寒，污染浓度高，而此时的准妈妈和待产的宝宝们往往都非常脆弱。

But being born in summer can have drawbacks - such as an increased risk of short-sightedness.

但在夏季出生也有一些缺点，比如近视的可能性就比较大。

It's thought sunshine interferes¹⁰ with the delicate development of the eye - making focusing difficult and distant objects appear blurred¹¹.

研究人员认为阳光和眼睛的发育密不可分，它让眼睛聚焦变难，看远处的物体也比较模糊。