Lifeways

The Lifeways Cross-Generation Cohort Study, funded originally by the Health Research Board, is a long-term project which allows us to follow families over a period of time. This study is different in that it is ‘cross-generation’ – some families have three generations taking part and we have a particular interest in looking at the effect of food and nutrition on health. The study started in 2000 and the families were recruited over 2001-3. At the beginning, over a thousand mothers at antenatal clinics in the Coombe University Hospital Dublin and in University College Hospital Galway agreed to take part. These pregnancies resulted in 1092 ‘index’ babies from 1082 mothers, including 12 pairs of twins. Over nine hundred families also provided information on 1043 fathers and 4120 grandparents as well. We have been following the children’s health and development ever since, with follow-up studies at 3, 5, and 9 years old. The last of the young people turned 21 years old in February 2024. As well as the formal information we collect, we like to hear how the families are getting on, with newsletters distributed roughly every two years. The Lifeways children are now adults, and we intend to follow them as they have children of their own in a new round of the Lifeways study.