A groundbreaking study of British babies will be led by Professor
Carol Dezateux of the UCL Institute of Child Health. Director of the
Institute Professor Andrew Copp commented
"Understanding the wide
range of factors affecting children's health, wellbeing and life
chances, is essential as we make policy for the decades ahead. An aging
population requires us to think even more than we do now about how our
children will grow up. The UCL Institute of Child Health hosts the MRC
Centre of Epidemiology for Child Health and, with this expertise in
population health science, we are well placed to lead this exciting new
project, working with colleagues in other organisations and disciplines.
As Director of the Institute, I am delighted with this award which is
the largest grant won by a senior member of ICH for many years."
The press release from UCL and the research councils follows:
£28 MILLION BOOST TO UK’S BIGGEST STUDY OF BABIES AND YOUNG CHILDREN
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The
largest ever UK-wide study of babies and young children today received a
landmark £28.5 million commitment from the Government Department of
Business Innovation and Skills (BIS). This investment adds to the £5
million awarded to scientists at University College London (UCL) by two
leading research councils, the Economic and Social Research Council
(ESRC) and Medical Research Council (MRC).
This pioneering Study
will track the growth, development, health, well-being and social
circumstances of over 90,000 UK babies and their families - from all
walks of life – and will initially cover the period from pregnancy right
through to the early years. Recruitment is due to begin in 2012. It
will be the fifth such study in a series of world renowned UK studies
which have followed the lives of children from birth to adult life. The
first of these started in 1946 with the post war generation and the most
recent with those born at the turn of the twenty first century. As is
the case with these earlier studies, this new Study will provide a
wealth of insights into the health, development and life circumstances
of this new generation of children. This new Study has been developed by
a team comprising the UK’s leading biomedical and social scientists. It
has been designed to reflect the rich diversity of ethnic identity and
social backgrounds of babies being born in today’s Britain and include
wider and more intensive study of children during their first year of
life.
It will provide information to help address important questions for children’s health and well-being. These include:
– What are the key factors that help some children to overcome social disadvantage at birth and improve their life chances?
– How
do eating and physical activity behaviours develop in very early life
and influence growth, body composition and weight gain in later
childhood?
– How does a child’s early temperament interact with
parenting style and influence social and emotional communication styles
and difficulties in later childhood?
– What are the effects of
exposure to a range of environmental pollutants during early infancy on
children’s subsequent health and development?
Professor Carol
Dezateux, Director of the MRC Centre of Epidemiology for Child Health at
UCL and leader of the scientific team responsible for this new Study
said: “It is crucial we find out more about how biological and
environmental influences combine to shape children’s health, development
and future life chances. We know that a child’s first year of life can
have a huge impact on future health and wellbeing but need to understand
more about how this happens and its relation to the diverse social
circumstances of families in Britain today. It is particularly exciting
that we will start recruiting parents to this unique Study during 2012,
a year already made special by the Olympics and the Queen’s Golden
Jubilee.”
Professor Stephen Holgate, chair of the MRC Population
and Systems Medicine Board, said: “The Birth Cohort Study is a great
example of how, by working in close collaboration with ESRC, the MRC’s
strategic aim to inspire interdisciplinary research from a life course
perspective is being delivered. As the largest birth cohort to be
established within the UK, it will be scientifically-led and
interdisciplinary in design from the outset. The potential for learning
from the data is huge and will contribute to our society’s future
lifelong health and wellbeing.”
Professor Paul Boyle, Chief
Executive of the ESRC said: “The Council is delighted to work with the
MRC in supporting this ground-breaking study that will maintain the UK’s
leading position in social and biomedical studies. By tracking the
same individuals from their time in utero, through birth and for the
rest of their lives will reveal the key social, economic and biological
influences on their development during a period of considerable change
in UK society. The exciting combination of leading social and medical
scientists who are managing this study will provide new
cross-disciplinary insights that will provide vital information to
support effective policy-making for this and future generations.”
The
Birth Cohort Study will be strengthened by a new resource, the Cohort
Resources Facility. This world leading resource will play a vital role
in maximising the use, value and impact of the data collected from both
the new and existing UK birth cohort studies. By establishing a national
centre of excellence across each of these studies, researchers and
policy makers will be able to make better comparisons over time and
between different cohorts, measuring the changes in intergenerational
social mobility and educational attainment. The Cohort Resources
Facility will make the most of the UK’s existing investments and ensure
the UK’s world leading position in life course and birth cohort studies.
It will provide unprecedented opportunities to understand how economic,
social and biological factors combine to explain human behaviour in key
important areas such as health, poverty, child development and healthy
ageing.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
To speak to Professor Carol Dezateux please contact:
UCL Institute of Child Health Press Office
Tel: 020 7239 3125/3126, email vessem@gosh.nhs.uk coxs@gosh.nhs.uk
ESRC Press Office:
Danielle Moore (Tel: 01793 413122, email: danielle.moore@esrc.ac.uk )
Jeanine Woolley (Tel: 01793 413119, email: jeanine.woolley@esrc.ac.uk )
Contact information:
GOSH-ICH Press Office: 020 7239 3125
Email: Coxs@gosh.nhs.uk
For genuine and urgent out of hours call speak to switchboard on 020 7405 9200
