Protocol for the Women And Their Children's Health (WATCH) study: a cohort of pregnancy and beyond

Abstract

Background: The 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.

Methods: The 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.

Conclusions: The 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.

Figure 1.. Location of skinfold sites evaluated in the WATCH study, as defined by the International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry. All measurements were made on the right side of the body.
Anterior view (left), posterior view (right).
Modified from the International Standards for Anthropometric Assessment, M Marfell-Jones, T Olds, A Stewart, and L Carter, Anatomical landmarks, p. 27, 2006, with permission from Olds.

Figure 2.. Site of girth measurements, as defined by the International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry. Except for the head, all measurements were made on the right side of the body.
Modified from the International Standards for Anthropometric Assessment, M Marfell-Jones, T Olds, A Stewart, and L Carter, Girths, p. 78, 2006, with permission from Olds.