Men Born in the Spring May Be Taller, Austrian Researchers Suggest

The month of your birth may determine how tall you are, according to Austrian researchers. A survey they conducted on more than 507,000 Austrian soldiers showed that men born in the spring tend to be taller than those born in the autumn, but they had no explanation yet why that was the case.

The researchers compared the heights of the soldiers measured by the Austrian Federal Army throughout a full year, and reported in Nature that they varied periodically by about 0.23 of an inch from spring to autumn. The researchers suspect that the link had something to do with sunlight and the activity of the pineal gland, which secretes a hormone called melatonin. Melatonin is linked to a variety of functions in the body, including sleep, hunger, sexual desire, mood and, some experts believe, growth.

Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II