Seasonality of Birth Weight in Singleton Full-term Births in Finland;




Orderud, Hilde; Eskelinen, Niko; Lindberg, Matti

PublisherVäestöliitto

2024

 Finnish Yearbook of Population Research

57

21

46

1796-6183

1796-6191

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.23979/fypr.136379

https://doi.org/10.23979/fypr.136379

https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/404620473



Seasonal birth weight has been identified across different climate zones. Finland has wide seasonal and regional variation in climate within the country. We explore the potential seasonality of birth weight in singleton full-term births in Finland, and its variations across time and within the country. We apply descriptive time-series graphs, linear regression across regions, and linear regression with mother fixed effects using Finnish register data consisting of more than 1,800,000 infants born from 1987 to 2021. The descriptive findings indicate a decline in birth weight from 1987 to 2021. A monthly seasonal trend with peaks in spring and autumn and troughs in summer and winter is observed. The pattern gets less distinct with time and shows within-country variations. The seasonal pattern is also present when applying mother fixed effects. We suggest that the seasonal variation is more related to variations in climate than stable characteristics at the family level.




birth weightclimateFinlandIlmastokausivaihtelutseasonal variationsSuomisyntymäpaino

Last updated on 29/04/2026 09:20:10 AM