South Asian Birth Cohort (START)
START aims to understand the environmental and genetic determinants of adiposity and related metabolic abnormalities among South Asians. The study includes 1,772 mother-baby pairs, with 1,001 from Ontario, Canada, 484 from urban India, and 288 from rural India. All participants are of South Asian descent, and each mother has a singleton pregnancy. Recruitment occurred during antenatal visits in the first or second trimester, and both mothers and babies have been followed up at multiple intervals: at delivery, 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 36, and 60 months postpartum, with a 10-year follow-up ongoing.
Study design
Cohort - birth, Cohort - primary caregiver and child
Number of participants at first data collection
1,772 (mothers)
1,772 (babies)
Age at first data collection
18 - 40 years (participants)
Birth (babies)
Participant year of birth
Varied (mothers)
Varied (babies)
Participant sex
All
Representative sample at baseline?
No
Sample features
Countries
Year of first data collection
2011
Primary Institutions
Hamilton Health Sciences
McMaster University
Population Health Research Institute (PHRI)
Profile paper DOI
Funders
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR, Instituts de recherche en santé du Canada, IRSC)
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)
Ongoing?
Yes
Data types collected
- Activity log (e.g. food, sleep, exercise)
- Interview – face-to-face
- Interview – phone
- Passive electronic data collection (e.g. screen time, scroll speed)
- Physical or biological assessment (e.g. blood, saliva, gait, grip strength, anthropometry)
- Self-report questionnaire – unspecified
- Interviews or focus groups
- None
- None
Engagement
Keywords
