Children of the 90s, the ongoing research project following the lives of thousands of Bristol schoolchildren, has itself reached a landmark in its life.
This week the project, formally known as the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) is publishing its 150th scientific paper – releasing the latest findings by Dr Cathy Williams on the eye condition amblyopia among pre-school children.
Over the years our research has covered peanut allergy, asthma, obesity, working mothers,contraception, Caesarian birth, diet and eyesight, breastfeeding, male fertility, painkillers, junk food, cannabis, family pets, anxiety during pregnancy… and much more
The first paper, published by Professor Jean Golding of the University of Bristol in 1989, outlined a European study of pregnancy and childhood in various countries. The following year she published a paper on ALSPAC, and began to recruit the first of 14,541 mothers who would be at the centre of the research..
Since then ALSPAC has grown into a world resource with the potential to find ways in which all sorts of disease in childhood and adult life can be prevented or treated.
Among the findings:
- Parents who smoke, even passively, take longer to conceive.
- Some vegetarian diets during pregnancy may not be good for the developing foetus.
- Eating oily fish in pregnancy improves your child’s eyesight
- Children brought up in very hygienic homes are more likely to develop asthma
- Peanut allergies may be linked to the use of certain skin creams containing peanut oil which are used to treat eczema.
- Mothers who suffer stress and anxiety during pregnancy have a much higher risk of having a hyperactive child, or a child with severe behavioural problems.
- Women having their babies by Caesarean section could find it harder to conceive next time.
- Contrary to official advice – children with the common eye disorder amblyopia stand a better chance of being cured if treatment starts before they are three.
- Women who frequently use cannabis during their pregnancy may affect the growth of their unborn child.
- Infants who were given a dummy were more likely to suffer wheezing, earache, fever, diarrhoea and colic.
- Frequent use of Paracetamol during the later stages of pregnancy may increase the risk of wheezing and asthma in your child.
Last year scientists working with ALSPAC published 26 papers in the peer-reviewed medical journals in the UK, and internationally.
There are many more findings in the pipeline covering children’s health, development, behaviour and achievement.
With financial backing from the Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council and the USA’s National Institutes of Health, among others, we are currently looking at all aspects of health, development, behaviour and achievement as the Children of the 90s go through puberty and become teenagers.
Notes:
ALSPAC The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (also known as Children of the 90s) is a unique ongoing research project based in the University of Bristol. It enrolled 14,000 mothers during pregnancy in 1991-2 and has followed most of the children and parents in minute detail ever since.