Blame It on Winter

I love a unified theory that brings together some of my favorite topics:

Blame It on Winter: Newborns' Exposure to Daylight Affects Mental Health for Life

And now I'm thinking, how often did I get my babies outside?

Comments

  1. I don't know the symbol for sarcasm, but I am wondering.....does this mean that all the babies born in the tropics and subtroptical latitudes where there certainly is sunlight year round will not develop the brain disorders mentioned in the article? Is there a latitude adjustment?

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  2. Excellent question!

    This was just a small study on animals. But the data on illnesses and birth months is interesting, and I'm always interested in sleep cycles and mental health. I think we have useful things to learn in that direction.

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  3. My eldest daughter was born in a snowstorm in January and didn't go outside much for months. My youngest was born in May, a lovely summer, lots of outside seaside air and sleeping in her pram in the garden. Guess which one was diagnosed with anorexia and anxiety?

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  4. haha...I didn't even read the article, but I see your comment, Laura, that this was a small study done on animals... Before I saw your comment I was about to post, "Is it any wonder dogs are so happy??"

    I try to get outside every day ---the sounds of the wind, the hush of the quiet of night, the ray of sunshine peeking thru the morning fog...any of it increases my joy. ~ Also, I have not conducted a study on the baby for whom I nanny --but I have nannyed her since she was about a month old. Since day one of nannying, walking outside with her was a routine...even in winter, even at one month old. She is one of the happiest babies I have ever met.

    Is is the sunshine or the effects of a kick-butt nanny, we might never know! ;)

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  5. OK...now I have read the article! As with most studies, I appreciate it! But as w/most studies, there are exceptions to the results :). eg:

    My sister and I were born on the same day, tho' we are not twins. We were born two years, two hours apart, exactly to the minute...I was two weeks late, she was two weeks early. (I attribute this to Scottish luck, and to the fact that my Mother tends to prefer routine in her life. I hate to think she planned out her sex-life, but given how busy she was with a career, a baby, a husband & being a homemaker, oh and getting a Master's degree, I think she just might have plotted out a schedule.) Anyway, my sister and I were born in the heat of summer, early August. I was an outdoor baby from Day One --my mom and dad lifted me from the hospital and drove me up to the lake to meet my grandparents (my official length was determined by laying me next to a Salmon that my grandpa had caught that morning:)
    I was an active, out-door, sporty kid from that day on.

    I developed ED and my sister never did. Same summer litter, different pups.

    I did have a staph infection that had to be remvoed when I was about 2 weeks old. Is that what 'messed me up' and caused ED? We might never know, but maybe we will! During my final recovery I stopped actively looking for all the causes/reasons 'why me?'. I'm definitely open to learning the reasons as research develops, but it's no longer a necessity.

    What I'm really interested in now is how our brains re-wire during true recovery and nutrition. I am in love with my re-wired brain. I have my life and happiness back --the same happiness that followed me everywhere for the first 12 years of my life, before I went on my first diet. The way I describe this happiness that I feel is as a light radiating from my heart, and I feel like I finally see the blue sky again, ever day.

    Somehow this all relates to the study linked to this blog, I'm sure :)

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