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. 2025 Jun 26;25(1):2171.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-23561-y.

NorthPop: a prospective population-based birth cohort study

Christina E West  1 , Pernilla Lif Holgerson  2 , Anna Chmielewska  3 , Richard Lundberg-Ulfsdotter  3 , Carina Lagerqvist  3 , Elisabeth Stoltz Sjöström  4 , Katharina Wulff  5 , Olof Sandström  3 , Ingrid Mogren  6 , Sven Arne Silfverdal  3 , Magnus Domellöf  7
Affiliations

NorthPop: a prospective population-based birth cohort study

Christina E West et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are a global health issue, posing a substantial burden on the individual, community, and public health. The risk of developing NCDs is influenced by a complex interplay between genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors.

Methods: The NorthPop Birth Cohort Study (NorthPop) constitutes an infrastructure enabling cutting-edge research on the foundational pathways to NCDs in childhood, including allergic diseases and asthma, overweight/obesity, cognitive and neurodevelopmental dysfunction, gastrointestinal disorders, and caries. NorthPop aims at recruiting 10,000 families. Pregnant women and their partners residing in Västerbotten County, Sweden are eligible. Recruitment started in 2016 and is anticipated to end in 2025. Extensive data on parental, fetal and child health outcomes, lifestyle, diet, and environmental exposures are prospectively collected using web-based questionnaires in pregnancy and childhood until the children turn 7 years old. Urine samples are collected from the pregnant woman at gestational age 14-24 weeks. Blood samples are collected at gestational age 28 weeks. Placenta and cord blood are collected at birth. A breast milk sample is collected 1 month postpartum. Blood samples from the children are collected at 18 months and 7 years of age. Oral swabs and fecal samples are collected from the children within 48 h of birth, at 1, 9 and 18 months, 3 and 7 years of age. At age 7 years, children are invited to a follow-up visit, including measurements of weight, height, blood pressure, pulse, hand grip strength, working memory, skin prick test and saliva sampling. Additional measurements, such as sleep-wake and light exposure, and additional biological samples are collected in sub-cohorts. Permission for linkage to medical records and national registers e.g., the Swedish Pregnancy Register, the National Patient Register, the Longitudinal Integration Database for Health insurance and Labor market studies and the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register has been granted.

Discussion: Our multidisciplinary approach allows us to study how early life exposures, as well as parental health and lifestyle, influence future health in the offspring. Our results are anticipated to contribute to the understanding of disease risk and may inform future strategies aimed at risk reduction, highly significant for public health.

Trial registration: Retrospectively registered at Researchweb 11 November 2024 (project number 279272).

Keywords: Children; Developmental origins; Environment; Epidemiology; Non-communicable diseases; Nutrition; Obstetrics; Programming; Risk factors.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The project has been granted ethical approval by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority (2014/224–31). Written informed consent is obtained from both parents. The study adheres to the Declaration of Helsinki. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: CW has received research funding and/or has had academic-associated speaker or consultancy engagements from Arla Foods, Aimmune, Nestlé Health Science and Nutrition Institute, Nutricia, Thermo Fisher Scientific/Phadia and receives royalties from UptoDate. MD has received research funding from Arla Foods Ingredients, and consultation honoraria or speaker fees from Baxter Medical AB, Danone Nutricia, Elgan Pharma, Fresenius Kabi, Intertek Health Sciences Inc. and Nestec Ltd. (Nestlé).

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Study setting
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Overview of data collection and samplings
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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