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Background Adolescence and transition into adulthood are periods shaping life-long mental health, cardiometabolic risk, and inequalities. However, they are poorly studied and understood. By extending and expanding the Born in Bradford (BiB) cohort study through this period using innovative, co-produced approaches to collect and analyse data, we aim to understand better the interplay of factors that influence health and wellbeing, and inform/evaluate interventions to improve them and reduce inequalities. Protocol BiB Age of Wonder (AoW) is a large, whole city cohort that will capture the contemporary lived experience amongst multi-ethnic adolescents progressing into young adulthood. We will collect repeated data from existing BiB participants and their peers (N~30,000 adolescents). The protocol for the first phase of the quantitative methods, involving survey measurements and health assessments in mainstream secondary schools is described here. We describe the co-production behind these methods, and lessons learned from the first year of data collection.

Background The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) reported an increase in the prevalence of children in Reception (4–5 years) and Year 6 (10–11 years) with overweight/obesity during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic compared to the previous year. This prompted us to conduct a longitudinal analysis to compare weight status before and during the pandemic. Methods We compared the change in overweight/obesity status of children in Year 1 (Y1) (during the pandemic) who had also been measured as part of the NCMP in Reception (the year before the pandemic), with the change in a sample of children during a two-year ‘pre-pandemic’ period. Results Overweight/obesity increased by 1.2% to 24.8% (p=0.582) between Reception and Y1 in the pre-pandemic group and by 5.4% to 28.5% (p=0.002) in the pandemic group. This was mainly driven by an increase in the proportion of overweight/obese boys in the pandemic group (22% to 30%) compared to the pre-pandemic group rates (~24% at both time-points). Rates in girls increased by 2.0% to 24.8% in the pre-pandemic group and by 3.3% to 27.6% in the pandemic group. A higher proportion of Reception-aged White children in the pre-pandemic group were overweight/obese compared to the pandemic group, but by Y1 the rates were higher in the pandemic group. In children of South Asian (SA) heritage, the proportion with excess weight in Reception was 18.3% in the pre-pandemic group, increasing to 21.6% by Y1. The increase was substantially higher in the pandemic group of SA children, with an increase from 22.9% in Reception to 30.3% by Y1. Conclusions We observed a marked increase in the proportion of children with an unhealthy body mass index (BMI) during the first year of the pandemic, suggesting that the societal disruptions caused by lockdown may have adversely affected children’s diet and levels of physical activity.

Background: Socio-economic, cultural and environmental conditions strongly affect health across the life course. Local government plays a key role in influencing these wider determinants of health and levels of inequality within their communities. However, they lack the research infrastructure and culture that would enable them to develop an evidence-based approach to tackling the complex drivers of those conditions. Methods: We undertook a scoping project using some research methods and some descriptive summaries to explore the potential for, and what would be needed to develop a local authority research system for the City of Bradford, UK. This included identifying the current research landscape and any barriers and enablers to research activity within the local authority using qualitative individual and focus group interviews, a rapid review of existing local research system models, scoping and description of the use of evidence in decision making and training opportunities and existing support for local government research. Results: We identified four key themes important to developing and sustaining a research system: leadership, resource and capacity, culture, partnerships. Some use of research in decision making was evident but research training opportunities within the local authority were limited. Health research funders are slowly adapting to the local government environment, but this remains limited and more work is needed to shift the centre of gravity towards public health, local government and the community more generally. Conclusions: We propose a model for a local authority research system that can guide the development of an exemplar whole system research framework that includes research infrastructure, data sharing, research training and skills, and co-production with local partners, to choose, use, generate, and deliver research in local government.

Abstract Background Born in Bradford (BiB) is a prospective multi-ethnic pregnancy and birth cohort study that was established to examine determinants of health and development during childhood and, subsequently, adult life in a deprived multi-ethnic population in the north of England. Between 2007 and 2010, the BiB cohort recruited 12,453 women who experienced 13,776 pregnancies and 13,858 births, along with 3353 of their partners. Forty five percent of the cohort are of Pakistani origin. Now that children are at primary school, the first full follow-up of the cohort is taking place. The aims of the follow-up are to investigate the determinants of children’s pre-pubertal health and development, including through understanding parents’ health and wellbeing, and to obtain data on exposures in childhood that might influence future health. Methods We are employing a multi-method approach across three data collection arms (community-based family visits, school based physical assessment, and whole classroom cognitive, motor function and wellbeing measures) to follow-up over 9000 BiB children aged 7–11 years and their families between 2017 and 2021. We are collecting detailed parent and child questionnaires, cognitive and sensorimotor assessments, blood pressure, anthropometry and blood samples from parents and children. Dual x-ray absorptiometry body scans, accelerometry and urine samples are collected on subsamples. Informed consent is collected for continued routine data linkage to health, social care and education records. A range of engagement activities are being used to raise the profile of BiB and to disseminate findings. Discussion Our multi-method approach to recruitment and assessment provides an efficient method of collecting rich data on all family members. Data collected will enhance BiB as a resource for the international research community to study the interplay between ethnicity, socioeconomic circumstances and biology in relation to cardiometabolic health, mental health, education, cognitive and sensorimotor development and wellbeing.