Abstract
BackgroundThe developmental origins of health and disease is a conceptual framework that helps explain the links between our early life exposures and later health outcomes, and is a burgeoning field of research. In this report, we describe the study protocol used in a prospective cohort of women recruited during pregnancy, with postnatal follow-up of the mothers and offspring.MethodsThe Women And Their Children’s Health (WATCH) cohort (n = 180 women) is being conducted at the John Hunter Hospital, Australia (from June 2006). Women attended study visits during pregnancy at 19, 24, 30, and 36 weeks’ gestation. Postnatal follow-up of the women and their offspring occurred at 3-month intervals during the first year after birth and annually thereafter, until age 4 years. Fetal ultrasound scans were performed at each pregnancy visit. Pregnancy and birth data were obtained from hospital records. Data collection has included maternal and child anthropometric, biochemical, dietary, physical activity, socioeconomic, medical, and other variables.ConclusionsThe 2 most novel components of our prospective cohort study are (1) the regular and systematic tracking of fetal and child growth and body composition, starting in the second trimester of pregnancy and continuing to age 4 years, and (2) the detailed maternal and child dietary data collection, including biochemical parameters. Detailed cohorts that collect data on the early nutritional, physiological, and social determinants of health are valuable. Despite its relatively small sample size, many hypotheses on developmental origins can be tested or piloted using data collected from the WATCH cohort.
Highlights
The developmental origins of health and disease is a conceptual framework that has been established to help explain the links between our early life exposures and later health outcomes.[1]
Life exposures span the period from the maternal pre-pregnancy state, through pregnancy, and into childhood
Retrospective cohorts in the United Kingdom provided the first evidence for associations between birth weight and adult diseases such as coronary heart disease,[2] type 2 diabetes,[3] hypertension,[3,4] and stroke.[5]
Summary
The developmental origins of health and disease is a conceptual framework that has been established to help explain the links between our early life exposures and later health outcomes.[1]. The primary aim of the Women And Their Children’s Health (WATCH) Study is to test whether maternal nutritional and hormonal factors are important predictors of offspring outcomes such as growth, body composition, and childhood cognition. We have published WATCH data on the micronutrient status of women and their offspring[15] and have shown that maternal weight gain during pregnancy is an important predictor of fetal body composition.[16] The aim of this article is to report the study protocol and methods used in this prospective cohort of women during their pregnancy, with follow-up of both mothers and offspring up to 4 years after birth
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