Molecular mechanisms underlying the parental and early-life influences on child and adolescent cardiometabolic, neurocognitive and mental health.

Over the past three decades, there has been a substantial increase in the prevalence of mental disorders, which remain a leading cause of disease burden worldwide. Mental disorders in adulthood are found associated with poorer overall health and quality of life. Cardiometabolic mechanisms have been implicated in mental illness. For example, overweight and obese individuals are also more likely to be diagnosed with mental illness. The underlying biological processes that mediate cognitive development, such as brain myelination, can be influenced by a variety of factors, including nutrition, physical activity, and obesity, which supports the observed association between childhood obesity and poorer neurocognitive functioning. In this project, we will investigate child and adolescent developmental outcomes and the underlying molecular and environmental mechanisms. Specifically, we aim to study how parental and early-life factors may affect child obesity (body mass index and fat percentage) and socio-emotional problems, as well as the metabolomic profiles linked to these developmental outcomes.
This project will contribute to identifying potential targets for intervention and critical windows for interventions. In addition, we will compare our findings from the Born in Bradford cohort with other longitudinal cohorts, including the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) cohort in the UK and the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) cohort.