Pattern of birth and eating attitudes in young adults: failure to replicate in a warmer climate

OBJECTIVE: Previous research (based in the United Kingdom) has shown a link between warmer temperatures at birth and restrictive eating attitudes in early adulthood. The current study examined whether this pattern can be replicated in a warmer area of the northern hemisphere (Southwest Spain). METHODS: The participants were 261 preuniversity volunteers (125 women and 136 men) born in Extremadura, Southwest Spain. Mann-Whitney tests and chi-square analyses were used to compare the eating characteristics of participants born in warm versus cooler months. Spearman's rho was used to test for dimensional associations between temperature at birth and eating characteristics. RESULTS: There were no links between temperature at birth and restrictive eating attitudes, whether temperature and eating pathology were considered dimensionally or categorically. DISCUSSION: The association of temperature at birth and restrictive eating pathology in early adulthood is not replicable in a warmer climate. Possible explanations are suggested to account for this pattern of findings.