Dietary fibre and phytate--a balancing act: results from three time points in a British birth cohort.

An investigation was carried out to determine whether there were significant changes in the intake of dietary fibre (NSP) and phytate of adult men and women in the UK from 1982 (aged 36 years) to 1999 (aged 53 years). The 1253 subjects studied were members of the Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development; a longitudinal study of a nationally representative cohort of births in 1946. Food intake was recorded in a 5 d diary at age 36 years in 1982, 43 years in 1989 and 53 years in 1999.

Early motherhood and mental health in midlife: a study of British and American cohorts.

Objectives: Examine the relationship between early age at first birth and mental health among women in their fifties.

Methods: Analysis of data on women from a British 1946 birth cohort study and the U.S.

Psychiatric outcomes 10 years after treatment with antidepressants or anxiolytics.

Background: Antidepressants and anxiolytics have demonstrated short-term efficacy; however, little is known about the long-term effectiveness of these drugs.

Aims: To investigate long-term psychiatric outcomes following antidepressant and/or anxiolytic use during an episode of mental disorder in mid-life.

Method: Members of the 1946 British birth cohort were assessed for symptoms of depression and anxiety at age 43.

Does initial breastfeeding lead to lower blood cholesterol in adult life? A quantitative review of the evidence.

Background: Earlier studies have suggested that infant feeding may program long-term changes in cholesterol metabolism.

Objective: We aimed to examine whether breastfeeding is associated with lower blood cholesterol concentrations in adulthood.

Design: The study consisted of a systematic review of published observational studies relating initial infant feeding status to blood cholesterol concentrations in adulthood (ie, aged >16 y).

Effect of breastfeeding and sociodemographic factors on visual outcome in childhood and adolescence.

Background: It has been suggested that early life factors, including breastfeeding and birth weight, program childhood myopia.

Objective: We examined the relation of reduced unaided vision (indicative of myopia) in childhood and adolescence with infant feeding, parental education, maternal age at birth, birth weight, sex, birth order, and socioeconomic status.

Design: Three British cohorts recruited infants born in 1946 (n = 5362), 1958 (n = 18,558), and 1970 (n = 16,567).

Factors associated with antidepressant, anxiolytic and hypnotic use over 17 years in a national cohort.

Background: In the general population, most individuals with mental disorders are not treated with psychotropic medications. The objective of this study was to identify factors associated with psychotropic medication use over a 17 year period in a birth cohort.

Method: Members of the 1946 British birth cohort (n=2,928 in 1999) reported psychotropic medication use in 1982 at age 36, in 1989 at age 43, and in 1999 at age 53.

The continuing benefits of education: adult education and midlife cognitive ability in the British 1946 birth cohort.

Objective: Evidence shows education positively impacts cognitive ability. However, researchers have given little attention to the potential impact of adult education on cognitive ability, still malleable in midlife. The primary study aim was to examine whether there were continuing effects of education over the life course on midlife cognitive ability.

A longitudinal typology of symptoms of depression and anxiety over the life course.

Background: Little is known about long-term profiles of depressive and anxious symptomatology over the life course and about the developmental determinants of different trajectories. The objective of this study was to identify a novel typology of symptoms of depression and anxiety over the life course and examine its neurodevelopmental antecedents in an epidemiological sample.

Methods: A longitudinal latent variable analysis was conducted on measures of anxious and depressive symptoms at ages 13, 15, 36, 43, and 53 years among 4627 members of the Medical Research Council National Survey of Health & Development (the British 1946 birth cohort).

Childhood cognitive ability and adult mental health in the British 1946 birth cohort.

We examined whether childhood cognitive ability was associated with two mental health outcomes at age 53 years: the 28 item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) as a measure of internalising symptoms of anxiety and depression, and the CAGE screen for potential alcohol abuse as an externalising disorder. A total of 1875 participants were included from the Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development, also known as the British 1946 birth cohort. The results indicated that higher childhood cognitive ability was associated with reporting fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression GHQ-28 scores in women, and increased risk of potential alcohol abuse in both men and women.

Life course body size and lipid levels at 53 years in a British birth cohort.

Objectives: To investigate the association between growth in height and change in body mass index (BMI) during the life course on lipid levels at 53 years.

Methods: 2311 men and women from a British cohort study were included in analyses. Non-fasting total, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels were measured at 53 years.

Improvements in social functioning reported by a birth cohort in mid-adult life: A person-centred analysis of GHQ-28 social dysfunction items using latent class analysis.

The General Health Questionnaire is widely used to measure the health status of individuals. Most studies have focused on traditional score values for one or more dimensions of psychopathology. We introduce a new analysis model that is person-centred and uses a latent structure approach to group individuals by a discrete latent variable.

Social circumstances and education: life course origins of social inequalities in metabolic risk in a prospective national birth cohort.

Objectives: We investigated the relative importance of education and childhood and adult social class in the risk of metabolic syndrome.

Methods: We conducted a prospective birth cohort study of 1311 men and 1318 women aged 53 years in 1999, when metabolic syndrome components were measured. Logistic regression analyses were used to calculate relative index of inequality estimates.

Psychometric evaluation and predictive validity of Ryff's psychological well-being items in a UK birth cohort sample of women.

Background: Investigations of the structure of psychological well-being items are useful for advancing knowledge of what dimensions define psychological well-being in practice. Ryff has proposed a multidimensional model of psychological well-being and her questionnaire items are widely used but their latent structure and factorial validity remains contentious.

Methods: We applied latent variable models for factor analysis of ordinal/categorical data to a 42-item version of Ryff's psychological well-being scales administered to women aged 52 in a UK birth cohort study (n = 1,179).

Three decades of antidepressant, anxiolytic and hypnotic use in a national population birth cohort.

Background: Psychotropic medication use is common and increasing. Use of such drugs at the individual level over long periods has not been reported.

Aims: To describe antidepressant, anxiolytic and hypnotic drug use, and associations between such medication use and common mental disorder, over a 22-year period.

Childhood socioeconomic status predicts physical functioning a half century later.

Background: Socioeconomic status (SES) affects health outcomes at all stages of life. Relating childhood socioeconomic environment to midlife functional status provides a life course perspective on childhood factors associated with poor and good health status later in life.

Methods: The British 1946 birth cohort was prospectively evaluated with periodic examinations from birth through age 53 years, when physical performance tests assessing strength, balance, and rising from a chair were administered.

Cognitive function across the life course and the menopausal transition in a British birth cohort.

Objective: Despite biological plausibility, relationships between menopause and cognitive function are inconsistent. We investigated whether menopause status and menopause age were associated with general cognitive ability, verbal memory, and visual search speed and concentration in a large cohort of women while considering vasomotor and psychological symptoms, previous childhood and adult measures of cognitive function, lifetime socioeconomic circumstances, educational attainment, lifestyle factors, and chronic diseases.

Design: A nationally representative British cohort of 1261 women born in March 1946 and all aged 53 years at cognitive testing, with prospective information on previous cognitive function, menopausal characteristics, and potential confounders.

Birthweight and blood pressure in five European birth cohort studies: an investigation of confounding factors.

Background: It has been suggested that the association between birthweight and blood pressure has been overstated as a result of publication bias and, within studies, a lack of adjustment for potentially important maternal and socioeconomic confounding factors and 'overadjustment' for current body size. This study investigates the impact of potential confounding variables on the birthweight-blood pressure association in birth cohort studies from different time periods and geographical locations in Europe.

Methods: Data from five European birth cohort studies (from Finland, the UK, and the Faroe Islands) taking part in the European Birth-Lifecourse-Studies (EURO-BLCS) project were analysed.

Parent-child relationships and health problems in adulthood in three UK national birth cohort studies.

Background: Event-based measures suggest that emotional adversity in childhood has a long-term health impact, but less attention has been paid to chronic emotional stressors such as family conflict, harsh discipline or lack of affection. This study aimed to assess the impact of the latter on health problems and illness in adulthood.

Methods: Logistic regression and multinomial logistic regression analyses of data collected in three UK national birth cohort studies at ages 43 and 16 years covering subjective report of relationship quality from the 'child', and number of health problems and illnesses reported in adulthood at ages 43, 33 and 26 years adjusted for social class, sex and, in 1946 and 1970 cohorts, for symptoms of mental illness.

Socio-economic position across the life course and hysterectomy in three British cohorts: a cross-cohort comparative study.

Objective: To examine the association between indicators of lifetime socio-economic position and rates of hysterectomy in three British cohorts.

Design: Cross-cohort comparative study.

Setting: Two cohorts: England, Scotland and Wales.

Childhood cognitive ability and age at menopause: evidence from two cohort studies.

Objective: To investigate whether poorer cognitive ability in childhood is associated with an earlier menopause.

Design: Two cohorts were included: a nationally representative British birth cohort study of 1,350 women born in March 1946 and followed up to age 54 years, and an Aberdeen cohort study of 3,465 women born in Aberdeen from 1950 to 1956 and followed up to age 44 to 50 years. Both cohorts had prospective information on childhood cognitive ability at age 7 or 8 years.

Influence of short stature on the change in pulse pressure, systolic and diastolic blood pressure from age 36 to 53 years: an analysis using multilevel models.

Background: Previous cross-sectional analyses of this cohort have shown that short height and leg length are associated with higher pulse pressure and systolic blood pressure in middle age. It is unclear how these adult measures of childhood growth influence the change in blood pressure as it increases with age.

Methods: Multilevel models were fitted to investigate associations between components of height and the change in blood pressure between 36, 43, and 53 years in a prospective national cohort of 1472 men and 1563 women followed-up since birth in 1946.

Grip strength, postural control, and functional leg power in a representative cohort of British men and women: associations with physical activity, health status, and socioeconomic conditions.

Background: Understanding the health, behavioral, and social factors that influence physical performance in midlife may provide clues to the origins of frailty in old age and the future health of elderly populations. The authors evaluated muscle strength, postural control, and chair rise performance in a large representative prospective cohort of 53-year-old British men and women in relation to functional limitations, body size, health and activity, and socioeconomic conditions.

Methods: Nurses interviewed 2984 men and women in their own homes in England, Scotland, and Wales and conducted physical examinations in 2956 of them.

Alcohol consumption and midlife cognitive change in the British 1946 birth cohort study.

Aims: Cross-sectional studies suggest that alcohol consumption benefits cognitive function. However, more longitudinal studies are required to confirm that alcohol has an effect on cognitive change and to rule out the possibility that those of higher ability engage in a lifestyle that protects against cognitive decline.

Methods: We investigated the association between self-reported alcohol consumption and change in memory, speed and concentration in midlife, in 903 men and 861 women enrolled in the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (the British 1946 birth cohort).

Alpha1-antitrypsin as a risk for infant and adult respiratory outcomes in a national birth cohort.

Reduced alpha1-antitrypsin (AAT) encoded by the gene SERPINA1 is a potential risk for pulmonary disease. We investigated SERPINA1 polymorphism as a risk for infant and adult pulmonary morbidity, and adult respiratory function and its change between 43 and 53 yr. We used data on a British national representative sample (n = 5,362) studied since birth in 1946 to age 53 yr (when n = 3,035), when DNA was first obtained.