News / Children of the 90s
Children of 90s study awarded £5.2m for further research
A groundbreaking study which researches the lives of thousands of families in the South West has been awarded £5.2 million to continue its pioneering work to improve people’s health.
The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children is better known as The Children of the 90s.
Thanks to the Medical Research Council (MRC), Wellcome Trust and the University of Bristol, the funding will allow researchers to carry on its work which has led to many major medical breakthroughs.
Michele Pilgrim (left), the first participant to sign up for Children of the 90s, with professor Jean Golding and Michele’s daughter Lindsay
Jean Golding began Children of the 90s in the early 1990s by recruiting almost 80 per cent of pregnant women from Bristol and its surrounding areas to take part in the health study.
Since then, the project has tracked the health and development of those 14,500 babies from birth and into adulthood.
The new funding will allow researchers to continue collecting and analysing health data and samples from the study’s participants.
To date, Children of the 90s has contributed to more than 3,000 research papers leading to many important findings.
These discoveries cover all aspects of health and wellbeing from eczema, body weight and child development to autism, mental health and pregnancy.
Recent findings include:
- Research suggesting that one in five young people now shows signs of fatty liver disease and one in 40 young people may have liver scarring. As healthy young people are rarely studied, doctors only now understand how common this condition is – caused largely by obesity and alcohol consumption – and can look at ways to prevent it.
- One reassuring discovery for parents and carers of picky eaters was provided by a study of children’s diets. The study presented evidence that while a child’s fussy eating is often worrying, it is unlikely to have any lasting impact on their health and development.
- Pre-eclampsia affects millions of women worldwide, yet little is understood about the condition. For the first time, using Children of the 90s data, researchers now hope to learn whether the condition is associated with future heart problems for mother or baby, and if so, what can be done to prevent it.
A participant and her son who is now in the study too
Professor Nic Timpson, principal Investigator of Children of the 90s at the University of Bristol, added: “This is great news for science and a huge credit to the families from Bristol and beyond who have contributed so much.
“Longitudinal studies across three generations which have data from pregnancy onwards are rare and Children of the 90s is an outstanding example of participant-led, life course research.
“Looking forward, we will continue studying the factors that shape our health across diverse areas such as genetics, fertility, obesity, child development and the effect of climate on health and wellbeing.”
Participant in children of the Children of the 90s having her height measured
Around half of the original Children of the 90s’ participants are still in touch with researchers, and many are now starting families of their own.
More than 2,000 children of the Children of the 90s (known as COCO90s) have now enrolled into the study and more are being born and joining every week.
Michele Pilgrim, the first mother to sign up to Children of the 90s in 1991, explained: “As the mother of a participant of Children of the 90s, I have felt it a privilege to take part in such an important study, one that will without doubt help improve the health of children in the next generation and beyond.
“I have enjoyed taking part in various studies myself as my own health has always been important to me and I will be happy to continue to participate for as long as necessary.”
Last autumn, the study moved to a new home in the University of Bristol’s Learning & Research Building based at Southmead Hospital, part of North Bristol NHS Trust, helping researchers and clinicians to collaborate more closely.
The hospital’s research midwives are also crucial in gathering data and samples as more babies arrive and take part in the study. Children of the 90s is calling on people born from April 1991 to December 1992 in the Avon area to get back in touch.
It does not matter if you have not been part of the study for years, you can still participate. Children of the 90s would particularly like to speak with parents or those with a baby on the way to form part of the COCO90s study.
Email [email protected] to play your part in groundbreaking medical research.
All photos: Children of the 90s
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