Happy 65th birthday to the MRC birth cohort of 1946

March 21, 2011 10:14 AM

Epidemiology: Study of a lifetime. "In 1946, scientists started tracking thousands of British children born during one cold March week. On their 65th birthday, the study members find themselves more scientifically valuable than ever before."

The article as it appeared in the magazine can be downloaded as a pdf.

How did they keep 80% of the birth cohort involved in the study? Cards and Calls.

posted by zarq (7 comments total)

Oh way cool, I am born this week too. Thursday to be exact if you lot want to favourite that to be sure to remember and wish me;p
posted by infini at 10:39 AM on March 21, 2011 [4 favorites]

Yea, epidemiology!
posted by Mental Wimp at 12:11 PM on March 21, 2011

Did they take all children born in the UK in this week? or just a sample - it's not clear. If the former, then my mother-in-law missed out being part of the cohort by just a couple of months. It would have been very appropriate if she had been included, as she is an epidemiologist doing this sort of research.
posted by jb at 1:06 PM on March 21, 2011

Kaiser's Adverse Childhood Experiences study also produces some interesting data on the importance of the early years for physiological and mental health.
posted by meehawl at 1:19 PM on March 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

Fascinating. Thank you for the post!
posted by cool breeze at 1:37 PM on March 21, 2011

Slight derail, but as ever Zarq, I want to thank you - not just for a cracker post, but your excellent use of tagging. You really add a lot to the utility of mefi when you take such care with your tagging, and I for one appreciate it - and often stumble across older posts of yours when I'm searching the site for info on a particular topic.
posted by smoke at 5:14 PM on March 21, 2011

CBC Radio interviewed Professor Diana Kuh, the Director of the "Medical Research Council's National Survey of Health and Development," -- which is the official name of the study, this past March 8th.

You can hear the interview here, if you don't mind hunting around a bit.
posted by BozoBurgerBonanza at 7:21 PM on March 21, 2011