We’ve heard it all: Older siblings are more assertive, middle children are easy going, and younger children can get away with just about anything, but are there also health risks associated with birth order?
Interesting research has found that younger siblings actually have a decreased risk of developing type 1 diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes is also known as “juvenile diabetes” and is an autoimmune disease usually diagnosed during childhood as a result of the body developing an immune response against its own cells, causing the lifelong requirement of insulin.
This type of diabetes is not acquired as the result of eating an unhealthy diet unlike Type 2 diabetes. Researchers say that one reason for this decrease in diabetes risk for younger children could be their earlier exposure to illness (from older siblings bringing it home from school), resulting in stimulation of the immune system of these children and reducing the chances of the immune system incorrectly attacking the body.
So you know what they say, let your kids eat a little dirt… and sometimes a snotty little nose can be beneficial to their health !
Read more here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21149280
