TESTS for one of Australia’s most important child health studies are being carried out at Murdoch University over January.
The Growing up In Australia study, run by Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne, is the first of its kind in Australia, and is the “biggest, broadest, and covers the most different types of people in the community” says project manager Dr Susan Clifford.
The longitudinal study of 10,000 children and parents is investigating how children’s social, economic and cultural environments affects their health.
Participants, who have been in the study from birth, are interviewed comprehensively at home every two years.
This is the first time such a detailed physical health assessment has been carried out on the participants, now aged 11 and 12 years old, a critical age for testing future health, says Ms Clifford.
“They go from being children to teenagers, their bodies change quite dramatically, and as the children get more independent, they start taking more responsibility for their own health, and so this is when healthy habits should really form,” she says.
Ms Clifford says there are approximately 250 participants from WA in the study, which aims to represent the true diversity of Australian children.
“The kids in the study represent the kids in Australia,” she says.
“So the same proportion of indigenous kids, or the same proportion of migrant children are in the study as in the population, so that means the results we get in the study, we can say are the same results that apply for all Australian children.”
While the study will span the course of participants’ lifetimes, Ms Clifford says the research is already helpful in informing government policy towards maternity and paternity leave, and early education.
Participant Cameron Sharp, 12, from Attadale, says he used to think the home visits were a “bit weird” but now understands their significance.
However, being part of the study in itself can change the way participants might otherwise behave (the Hawthorne effect, or “observer effect”, where behaviour changes because the subject knows it is being observed).
Cameron says knowing he is part of a lifelong health study “is something to keep in the back of your mind to push towards”. “It’s making me make healthier choices and do more exercise and keep me fit,” he says.
Mum Carolyn Sharp says she first heard of the study soon after Cameron’s birth and thought participation would be “fantastic”. “It’s going to give a really good picture of child development, of society, of environment, of everything.”
by LUCINDA PEARSON
• Shanavi Kulkarni – Retinal Photographer/Health Research Assistant Shanavi Kulkarni shows Elsie Williams, 10, how it all works. Photo by Matthew Dwyer
