The CDAH study is a cohort study with follow-up of 8,498 children who participated in the 1985 Australian Schools Health and Fitness Survey (ASHFS) when aged 7 to 15 years. Using data from repeated measures of demographic, lifestyle, and physical characteristics collected since childhood, the study's main aim is to determine the contribution of childhood factors to the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes in later life. The study’s rich data has also allowed researchers to address questions about a broad range of other health conditions including mental, reproductive, bone and kidney health, and cognition. (See CDAH publications below).
In the first follow-up of the cohort (CDAH-1) in 2004-6, participants aged between 26 and 37 years completed questionnaires and attended study clinics held around Australia. The second follow-up (CDAH-2), conducted during 2009 – 2011 when participants were aged between 31 and 41 years, involved the completion of questionnaires. The most recent follow-up (CDAH-3) conducted between 2014 and 2019 when participants were aged from 36 to 49 years, again saw participants attending clinics all around Australia, as well as completing questionnaires.
The CDAH study also contributes to an international effort to understand the childhood origins of cardiovascular disease through the International Childhood Cardiovascular Cohort (i3C) Consortium. As part of the Consortium, CDAH data is pooled with similar studies from Finland and the USA. Follow-up in nearly 40,000 participants of cardiovascular disease deaths and events, such as heart attacks and stroke, has demonstrated for the first time that they are associated with risk factors in youth (body mass index, blood pressure, smoking and blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels) individually and combined in a score.
Research team
Led by Professor Alison Venn, the team includes senior investigators Professors Terry Dwyer and Seana Gall, Associate Professors, Verity Cleland and Costan Magnussen, postdoctoral research fellows, and research higher degree students. Marita Dalton is the study’s Data Manager. View the team's research profiles:
Collaboration and access to data
The CDAH study has many established collaborations. Researchers are recommended to request access to de-identified data by contacting the study’s Data Manager at Menzies.cdah@utas.edu.au in the first instance.
- You will then be directed to an online application process, or
- Begin your application here.
Overview of available data at various time points in the study (PDF 144.1 KB)
Funding
The CDAH Study has received grant funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Heart Foundation, the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and donations and philanthropic funds including from the Mostyn Family Foundation.