Children of discovery

A ground-breaking research project to help scientists learn about child health and development is making waves with major new discoveries about the way we live today and its impact on our children's well being.

The Children of the '90s is a massive survey of thousands of children based in Bristol - but many children who live in Wiltshire are part of the revolutionary study.

The project, which also has the less catchy title, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, was the brainchild of Professor Jean Golding.

Mothers in the Bristol area who gave birth in 1991 and 1992 were invited to join the study.

Since then some of the parents and children have moved all over the world.

The Allies family from Chippenham are just one of many families who have made their home in north Wiltshire and still take part in the Children of the '90s study.

Judy Allies, a biology teacher from Frogwell, in Chippenham, was living in Keynsham when she was pregnant with her first child, Hannah.

Early in the pregnancy she was asked by a midwife if she wanted to join in the study - and since the moment she agreed, every aspect of Hannah's life and development has been recorded, tested and monitored.

During the pregnancy Mrs Allies allowed the Children of the '90s to take extra samples of blood, filled in numerous questionnaires relating to her own diet, health, education, religious beliefs, housework practices and lifestyle.

When she gave birth at Bath's Royal United Hospital, Mrs Allies was given a special bucket to take with her, for the collection of the placenta to hand over to the study.

Since then both mother, and more recently daughter, have received more questionnaires, attended health checks and collected various parts of Hannah's unwanted anatomy - including baby teeth, hair and nails.

But despite the demands, both Hannah and her mother feel proud to be part of the study and are delighted to learn of the scientific advances being made as a result.

"We feel like we are part of something important," said Mrs Allies.

"So many thousands of kids are involved. Because I am a biology teacher I can see the value of it.

"From time to time we see the study mentioned on television, and find out what has been discovered."

Hannah, now 12 and a pupil at Hardenhuish School, said she liked being part of Children of the '90s, attending the Focus health checks in Bristol and filling in the questionnaires.

"It's great to meet other people who are part of the study and reading the newsletters to find out what they have done with the data," she said.

"I don't mind at all answering all the questions.

"The people at the Focus checks are all really nice and you never have to do anything you don't want to."

Since the age of seven, Hannah and thousands of other participants have attended the annual Focus checks in Bristol.

The youngsters undertake a wide range of activities as well as all sorts of tests and examinations, to find out about their hearing, sight, co-ordination, breathing and many other things.

Hannah had a full skeletal scan and was allowed to keep a picture of her bones.

She also wore an activity monitor for a week to record the amount of exercise she took.

The study also looks at the children's education and asks schools to become involved, sending reports of the children's work and accomplishments.

Children of the '90s is also collecting a comprehensive DNA databank.

Despite the huge and intimate amount of knowledge the study has of its thousands of children, Mrs Allies said she was not worried the information might be misused.

"The confidentiality has always been stressed," she said.

The vast amount of information is kept under a code number so details are not connected to the name of an individual child.

Around 14,000 children joined the study, which aims to continue right into the adulthood of the studied children and even to look at the children born to them in the future.

A huge number of findings have already been made - including the fact that eating oily fish when pregnant and breast feeding improves the eyesight of the baby.

Another discovery is that children brought up in very hygienic homes are more likely to suffer asthma.

Project results in 150 findings

Scientists from the United States of America and from the UK have been using the data and are currently looking at the development of obesity, changes in hearing, educational achievement and markers of risk of cardiovascular disease.

The team of experts collaborating in the project include allergy experts and anthropologists, criminologists and microbiologists, economists and social scientists.

And this year the Children of the '90s has a special reason to celebrate, with the publication of the 150th scientific paper based on its data, by Dr Cathy Williams on the eye condition, amblyopia.

Project leader professor Jean Golding said: "When the World Health Organisation started all this in 1985, they asked us simply: What are the current problems in child health and development and how can they be prevented?

"It was a big question. We always knew there was a lot be done. I was delighted, although not surprised that we have reached 150 findings."

Now the Children of the '90s project has just opened its own Population Genetics Laboratories in the shell of the old Bristol Children's Hospital where they are building up one of the largest DNA banks of its kind anywhere in the world.

"ALSPAC is investing heavily in immortalised cell-lines to ensure a never-ending supply of DNA, which will allow us to look at the associations between the gene and its outcome - at illness, behaviour, development and achievement," said Prof Golding.

"Funding permitting, we will continue to collect detailed information on the children as they go through puberty and adolescence and also study the parents, with full detailed physical, cognitive and psychiatric examinations.

"Our doctors and our staff have already achieved so much that has changed the lives of children all over the world. But for me - the really exciting thing is that there is still so much yet to be done."