EARLY-LIFE AND LATER DETERMINANTS OF ADULT DISEASE - A 50 YEAR FOLLOW-UP-STUDY OF THE NEWCASTLE THOUSAND FAMILIES COHORT

The relative contribution of socioeconomic, behavioural and biological factors operating in fetal and infant life, childhood and adulthood t o risk for cardiovascular disease, respiratory diseases and non-insuli n-dependent diabetes in middle age has become an important research is sue. All 1142 babies born in Newcastle upon Tyne in May and June 1947 were recruited into a prospective cohort study of child health (the 'T housand Families' study) and followed in great detail to the age of 15 y, with a brief further follow up at age 22 y. Children from poorer f amilies were at greatest risk of severe respiratory tract infection in infancy. Children from professional and managerial families were on a verage taller and heavier throughout childhood than those from semi-an d unskilled manual social classes. Repeated infections in early childh ood greatly increased the risk of developing chronic respiratory disea se by age 15 y. This paper outlines a new investigation designed to tr ace surviving members of this cohort and to chart the relationships be tween their socioeconomic circumstances, lifestyles, experiences and h ealth from birth through to the present day. Existing data on socioeco nomic circumstances and infections in infancy and childhood, infant nu trition, birthweight and physical development to age 22 y will be link ed to information gained from a new study. This comprises a postal que stionnaire survey of study members' adult health, socioeconomic circum stances and lifestyle, and a hospital based clinical examination inclu ding heart and lung function, glucose tolerance, blood lipids and anth ropometric measurements at age 49-51 y. Out of a target sample of 979 people for whom sufficient data are available on the first year of lif e, 866 (88%) have been traced and 649 are still resident in the North of England. Those study members who have been traced are highly repres entative of the original cohort. The Thousand Families cohort provides a unique opportunity for detailed epidemiological study because of th e wealth of data available on infant and childhood socioeconomic and f amily circumstances, all of which was collected prospectively. In addi tion, there has been comparatively little loss to follow-up since 1948 .