NSHD
The National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD) is the oldest and longest-running of the British birth cohort studies, following participants born in England, Scotland, and Wales in 1946.
The National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD)
The National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD), also known as the 1946 British birth cohort, is the oldest and longest-running longitudinal birth cohort study in the world. It has followed participants born in a single week in March 1946 across England, Scotland, and Wales, with repeated assessments from birth into later life.
The study provides unparalleled life-course data spanning early development, socioeconomic circumstances, health behaviours, clinical phenotyping, and ageing outcomes.
Further details are available at
https://nshd.mrc.ac.uk/
Scientific impact
The NSHD continues to play a central role in understanding how biological, social, and environmental factors across the lifespan shape cardiovascular health and ageing. Findings from this work inform prevention strategies, risk stratification, and policy relevant to healthy ageing in the general population.