There has been increasing interest in how the risk of adult chronic diseases, including obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, may be related in families across generations. It is well established that infants with normal extremes of birth-weight are more likely to develop adult chronic disease; as well as this recent studies have shown associations in families between parents and children of risk factors for adult chronic disease. However very few studies have examined these relationships across three generations. The Lifeways Cross-Generation cohort study bridges this gap. It was established in 2001, through two maternity hospitals in Ireland, and looks at family members over three generations, comparing different factors that may contribute to risk of chronic diseases.
Whilst the study has already shown strong familial associations, including a relationship between infant birth-weight and mortality patterns of grandparents (Kelleher et al, 2013) no analysis has been carried out to link the adult own reported birth-weight to their health status to date.
The summer student project will entail characterising the current health status of adults in the study based on data compiled to date. Using this, I will then analyse the data in relation to individual reported infant birth-weight to confirm whether a relatioship between early life influences on own birth weight and adult health status is present. Additionally, mortality patterns in grandparents will be related to the birth-weight of all adults and grandchildren.
My findings will contribute to the important discussion on when and how to prevent chronic diseases across the lifecourse.