In this project, we aim to explore whether we can predict which children are at high risk of becoming overweight and obesity at an early stage from examining attributes of their mothers, their first years of life and where the family lives.
We will perform this analysis in the Hampshire region using data collected routinely for all pregnant women who had delivered their babies at University Hospital Southampton. We will also retrieve growth data of their babies collected by the community health services. We will link this data to the National Child Measurement Programme which measures the weight and height of every child (unless opted out) in reception and year 6 of their primary school education. We will also consider the attributes of the geographical area in which the mothers and children live. Based on the findings of these analyses, we will develop a toolkit to help health professionals and public health services better target resources and efforts towards a healthier life journey for those children who are at risk of becoming obese later in life.
Principal investigator – Nisreen A Alwan
Funder: Academy of Medical Sciences Springboard – Health of the Public 2040 (supported by Wellcome) (£49,374)
Duration: September 2017 – September 2019
Contact: n.a.alwan@soton.ac.uk