Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children

The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), or Children of the 90s, has been charting the health of 14,500 families in the Bristol area since the early 1990s in order to improve the health of future generations. Based at the University of Bristol, Children of the 90s, is a world-leading birth cohort study.

Between April 1991 and December 1992 more than 14,000 pregnant women were recruited into the study and these women (some of whom had two pregnancies or multiple births during the recruitment period), the children arising from the pregnancy, and their partners have been followed up intensively over two decades.

It is the most detailed study of its kind in the world and it provides the international research community with a rich resource for the study of the environmental and genetic factors that affect a person’s health and development. Through its research it aims to inform policy and practices that will provide a better life for future generations.