Children of the 90s research began in the early 1990s when over 14,000 pregnant women from the former county of Avon were invited to take part in the research project. Researchers have charted the health and wellbeing of those women, their partners and their children ever since. What they've discovered has taught us a lot about what makes some people healthy and others less so. When the original children of the 90s reached adulthood we started studying their children too.
Children of the Children of the 90s (COCO90s), as the study of the next generation of babies is known, has been running for four years.
In that time there have been 499 pregnancies or births, with the 500th baby on its way to Zoe, age 24, from Weston-Super-Mare.
Mum to four-year-old Lance, Zoe is expecting her second child in January 2017.
Coincidentally, one of Lance’s visits to see the COCO90s team, was the 1,000th visit by a participant since the COCO90s project started in 2012.
Speaking about why she takes part in Children of the 90s and COCO90s, Zoe said:
For me it is that buzz of excitement of being a part of the studies. Taking the time to contribute even just the smallest thing can make a big difference to someone else's life. It feels amazing – like an achievement – to give what I can and for my children to have the opportunity to take part too is excellent! Without the support of all the participants, Children of the 90s and COCO90s couldn't have achieved the results they have within the time they have.
COCO90s researchers are gathering the same information (like height, weight and blood pressure) as researchers gathered from the original ‘Children of the 90s’ when they were young, but major advances mean the researchers can now also collect data using state-of-the-art technology.
These include:
- an environmental sensor that monitors the quality of air a baby or child is breathing
- a head camera (worn by mum and baby) to see how they interact with one another
- iPad games that test children’s memory and problem-solving skills
- a monitor, worn in the skin, to check glucose (sugar) levels and see how the body processes sugar during and after pregnancy (pictured right)
Speaking about what she hopes to find out from studying the next generation of Bristol babies, COCO90s project manager Dr Melanie Lewcock said:
We have many new, affordable technologies available to us now to that were not available for the original Children of the 90s. These are allowing us to look in even more detail at many things that affect a mother’s health in pregnancy and how this in turn can affect children’s health as they grow up.
Professor Debbie Lawlor who leads the COCO90s research added:
Research in animals suggests that health and wellbeing passes down generations and that this is not all due to our genes. So far we have not had studies that have allowed us to test this in humans. The original Children of the 90s, together with COCO90s, allows us for the first time to do this. As we follow the COCO90s children we will be able to identify how we might stop poor health passing through generations. We will also be able to explore how changes in society affect health. For example, the original pregnant women who were recruited to Children of the 90s had not been affected by the obesity epidemic throughout most of their lives as the mothers of the COCO90s children have. eCigarettes were not around in the early 1990s but now they are we can test whether or not they are safe in pregnancy. It is an exciting privilege to be able to work on this study.
Did you know?
- COCO90s has 35 couples who are both participants in Children in the 90s
- The oldest COCO90s child is nine
- Over 110 families have more than one child and 14 families have a second, third or fourth child on the way
- The largest families so far have four children, and there are several sets of twins.