Ten thousand Southampton women have now taken part in the largest study of women’s health and lifestyle ever carried out in the UK.
The pioneering medical research project started in 1998 and aims to recruit all Southampton women aged 20 to 34 years to learn more about the dietary and lifestyle factors that influence the health of women and their children.
What we eat and how we live has changed dramatically in recent years, but the effects of these changes on modern health are not yet known.
How does your employment, social life, level of fitness and exercise, food intake, family life and even your housing arrangements affect your health and that of your children?
The Southampton Women’s Survey aims to answer this, using the population of Southampton as a model for the whole of the UK. It will also take a unique look at how women’s lifestyles, size, shape and diet both before and during pregnancy can affect their babies’ future health.
Women taking part who then become pregnant are offered extra ultrasound scans at the city’s Princess Anne Hospital to follow the progress of their babies. Over 900 women have so far joined the pregnancy study and all children born will be followed for the first three years of life.
The Survey builds on work conducted by the Medical Research Council at the University of Southampton. This has shown that growth from the very earliest days in the womb affects health in adulthood, particularly the risk of contracting heart disease, diabetes and osteoporosis.
Dr Hazel Inskip, the Survey co-ordinator, said “Women in the city have been enthusiastic about the study and we are very grateful to all 10,000 of them who have taken part so far. The results will help us improve the health of young women and their children.
At the end of this we want to be able to put together recommendations for government on what women should be eating if they are thinking about getting pregnant.
We will also have plenty of evidence on how employment, childcare responsibilities, family life, patterns of exercise and housing affect diet and body weight and so influences women’s health throughout their lives.
Some SWS participants will also be asked to take part in related research projects looking at women’s mental health and at the way allergies such as asthma and bone disease can develop in the womb and during infancy.
Notes for Editors
The 10,000th woman recruited to the Southampton Women’s Survey is Mrs Nicki Clarke from Sholing. She will be available for interview with Dr Inskip and other members of the Survey team at a press conference to mark this milestone on Wednesday, September 26.
It is being held at 10.30am in the seminar room of the Medical Research Council’s Environmental Epidemiology Unit, Southampton General Hospital.
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