Hertfordshire Cohort Study

Summary of cohort

From 1911 until the National Health Service (NHS) was formed in 1948, records of birth weight, child illness, development and infant feeding were kept in Hertfordshire and summarised in handwritten ledgers [18].

By linking these records to mortality data through the NHS Central Register, Professor David Barker and colleagues were able to link markers of early experience to later health, most notably showing that lower birth weight was associated with increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease [19].

These initial studies that had included men and women born between 1920 and 1930 were followed by the Hertfordshire Cohort Study (HCS). Participants of the HCS included men and women who (a) were born 1931-1939, (b) had early life information from the ledgers, and (c) were still alive and registered with a General Practitioner in Hertfordshire between1998-2002 (traced using the NHS central registry).

Approximately 3,000 men and women agreed to a home visit with a trained research nurse and a majority of them also completed a clinic visit [18]. Sub-samples of these participants have also participated in a number of follow-up studies, principally focused on musculoskeletal outcomes.

The main objective of the HCS is to examine the interactions between genes, pre- and post-natal environments and adult diet and lifestyle behaviours in the aetiology of chronic disorders in later life [18].