THE NATIONAL STUDY OF HEALTH AND GROWTH (NSHG) - 23 YEARS ON THE ROAD

This paper aims to give a record of the National Study of Health and G rowth (NSHG) in terms of structure, process, its scientific contributi on, outcome measurements, and the commissioning and funding of the stu dy. The NSHG is a nutritional monitoring system of primary school chil dren. The study included three samples: representative English and Sco ttish samples, and an inner city sample. There were 56 study areas and 50% were surveyed every year. The study was started in 1972 and ran w ithout interruption for 23 years. Measurements were taken for height, weight and skinfold thickness for more than 95% of the children and th e response rate to the questionnaire was approximately 85%. This level of collaboration did not diminish over time. More than 80 papers have been published on the study. Results from the study have documented a n increase of height and obesity in England and Scotland, and an incre ase in asthma. The NSHG has shown that research units in a university environment can marry the scientific and administrative tasks of a lar ge survey carried out over a long-term period.