Science & Research > Health Staff

Health staff are a huge part of the Born in Bradford (BiB) project’s success: paediatricians, school nurses, GP’s and health visitors all have an important role to play in helping to record high quality data for us to follow up.

BiB is a unique, multi-ethnic study which looks at the causes of childhood and adult disease. The first phase of the project is using data collected by health visiting teams to assess the growth and health of Bradford babies.

Health visiting team members have been asked to record measurements of around the baby’s stomachs. The evidence base states that waist circumference is recommended as an independent measure of central fat.

The amount of fat found around the stomach is more changeable than fat found elsewhere, which increases the risk for various diseases including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Abdominal circumference has consistently been shown to be the better of the hip and waist circumference pairing and is easier to measure.

In the back of the personal child health record (PCHR) or “red book” are carbonised sheets. The top copy stays in the book and the carbonised sheet needs to be returned to the child health department at Douglas Mill at 6 month, 18 month and three year intervals.

Any parents or carers wanting to leave the study need to be encouraged to remain in the study. However, if anyone chooses to leave it is important that the following details are taken by whoever is first notified:

• The baby's date of birth

• National Health Service number

• BiB study identification (ID) number - the study ID number is located inside the “red book” and ends in P1.

If you have any queries please contact:
Shaheen Akhtar, Project Co-ordinator 01274 366954
or
Pauline Raynor, BiB project manager on 01274 383173/Pauline.Raynor@bthft.nhs.uk who can amend the database.