Jack was the 2,000th research participant to visit Children of the 90s since Focus@24+ started in 2015.
The clinic will run until 2017 and will add a wealth of valuable data to the vast amount of information gathered from participants and their parents since the early 1990s.
The data are used by researchers all over the world to answer questions on key health issues, ranging from anxiety, asthma and autism to dementia, depression and dyslexia, with over 1,450 research papers published to date.
Although many participants have now moved away from the Bristol area since they were born there in 1991 or 1992, some have travelled from as far afield as the Canary Islands, New Zealand and Switzerland in order to visit the clinic.
Others have gone to great lengths to get here, including a farmer who kept their early morning appointment despite having been up all night delivering calves, another who visited while on shore leave from the cruise liner where they work, and one very dedicated participant who came in on their birthday.
Feedback from participants is overwhelmingly positive:
‘I enjoy learning about my body and having tests, it’s cool.’
‘I found the scans interesting -- particularly the heart scan and 3D body scan, also all the food provided in the cafe was great!’
‘It was very interesting to talk to staff to find out how the study all works. Plus everyone was very friendly.’
‘Seeing the scan results was interesting. The staff were great and friendly. More generally it is really rewarding being part of the study which produces so much world-class and important research.’
Based on a large number of participants who have already attended Focus@24+, researchers already know that:
- 1 in 10 smoke every day (that’s lower than the national average)
- 2 in 10 are in education
- 6 in 10 are in a relationship
- 9 in 10 have a healthy systolic (active) blood pressure
- 1 in 20 never drink alcohol
- The average height is 170.6 cm (2.1 cm above the national average)
- During a test on their lungs, participants breathe out enough air to fill a car tyre (and more than they could when they were 17).