Your birth order has a subtle influence on your tendency to exhibit a variety of characteristics.
For example the first born tends to be more a conventional leader and cautious while later siblings unconventional and revolutionary, and risk takers.
The first born has a higher IQ than subsequent siblings.
When it comes to stature the first born is tallest and more likely to be fatter with each subsequent sibling being shorter and less prone to obesity.
Now if you are not the first born you can thank your older siblings for your health. Studies have shown that 4 to 5 year-olds with older siblings were almost three times less likely to go to the ER with allergic asthma than children without older siblings. The older siblings bringing viruses, fungi and bacteria into the home tempers the younger sibling’s immune system – the so called hygiene hypothesis.
Terry Pfau DO, HMD (middle child)