June 2, 2014

Study to measure the health and wellbeing of Illawarra families

A unique study to track the health and wellbeing of Illawarra families over time has commenced with a feasibility study at the Wollongong Hospital with pregnant women.

The aim of the Illawarra Born cross-generation health study is to give ‘Illawarra born’ babies the best start in life by gathering information on the factors that lead to improved health and wellbeing. Factors such as prenatal development, post-natal depression, parenting choices and rearing styles, attitudes to breastfeeding, folate and iodine will be measured, with blood and urine samples also collected to look at vitamins B12 and D, blood sugar, iodine, oxytocin, cortisol, mercury, cadmium, pesticide and lead levels.

Fifty pregnant women will participate in the feasibility study, which, if successful, will lead into a large-scale longitudinal study involving 1,000 local families.

Professor Brin Grenyer, one of Australia’s leading psychologists, is directing a multi-disciplinary team of psychologists, doctors, obstetricians, paediatricians, epidemiologists, geneticists and social scientists from the Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute and Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District on the study.

“Illawarra Born has a significant focus on preventable chronic diseases and illnesses, in particular mental health,” explains Professor Grenyer.

“The study will give us, and the community, the opportunity to make scientific discoveries that not only improve the health of local families but contribute to global research efforts and understanding of health and wellbeing across time as new challenges and opportunities arise in the 21st Century.”

The study is supported by the University of Wollongong’s Living Well, Longer Global Challenges Program, with research coordinator, Dr Michelle Townsend, recently appointed Honorary Research Associate at the hospital to support its implementation with hospital professionals and participants.

Dr Townsend said that all the researchers involved in the study are passionate about improving the health of the local community and that they have every confidence the study will deliver important insights to strengthen policy and practice in the local region and beyond.

To get involved in the study, women must be less than 22 weeks pregnant and intending to give birth at the Wollongong Hospital. Fathers will also be asked to join the feasibility study before their baby is born.

Media contact: Professor Grenyer is available for interview. Contact IHMRI Communications Coordinator, Robyn Gower, +61 2 4221 8228 or rgower@uow.edu.au.