Background

Dr GE Friend, Medical Officer of Christ's Hospital between 1913 and 1947, took a keen interest in noting his students' growth patterns and relating them to their diet, thus seeking to improve nutrition at the school. This project was carried out over a number of years, and in the 1930s he published a book containing summary statistics of his measurements and his recommendations for improvements to the school's diet in order to promote healthier adolescent life.

The subjects of Dr Friend's research were boys in the age range 10-18 years, and measurements were taken on up to ten occasions each year. The information noted includes height, weight, chest and arm circumference.

Whilst in Dublin, Prof George Davey Smith and Dr Yoav Ben-Shlomo discovered a copy of Dr Friend's book in a second-hand bookshop. Immediately aware of the potential benefit which this material could have to contemporary research in his field, Prof George Davey Smith bought the book and later established that the detailed records were still in existence at the school.

The records available covered 3,000 boys educated by Christ's Hospital between 1927 and 1956. Crucially, most would still be alive. They were traced through the Office for National Statistics and asked to participate in the study by answering a questionnaire about their past and present lifestyle and state of health. Permission to use the records held by Christ's Hospital was sought, along with access, where necessary, to clinical records for later life.

The researchers hope to show that there is a correlation between adult health and early life and growth patterns. Dr Yoav Ben-Shlomo said that this is a rare and valuable opportunity, as it is unusual to have access to such detailed information. "The work done at this School was way ahead of its time and the data collected was a good indicator of a schoolboy's health and development...If we can show that health outcomes are related to early life and growth patterns, then this may offer more scope for the prevention of illness in future generations."