Researchers claim to have uncovered a link between air temperature and birth weight according to a 2015 study.
The researchers claim that exposure to high air temperatures during pregnancy increase the risk of lower birth weight and can cause premature birth.
“An increase of 8.5 degrees centigrade in the last trimester of average exposure was associated with a 17 grammes decrease in birth weight of babies born full term after adjusting for other potential risk factors,” Dr Itali Kloog of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) said.
Dr Kloog believes the research is important as the earth is said to be heating up.
The study team came to this conclusion after studying the relationship between birth weight and ambient air temperature during pregnancy in Massachusetts between 2000 and 2008.
The study was published in the Environmental Health Perspectives journal and the team consisted of researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and Harvard University.
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