Murdoch Uni to run world-first child health study

More than 2000 Western Australian families are expected to take part in a proposed world-first health study run by Murdoch University.

The community health study, to be run by Peel Health Campus Nursing chair Professor Anne McMurray, will track hundreds of children from conception to teenage years, giving health experts unparalleled insight into child development.

The project will work closely with child health experts from Professor Fiona Stanley's Telethon Institute for Child Health Research.

It will focus on the growing Peel region which has a high proportion of young families, as well as a number of health risks in some groups.

"We want to create a profile of the Peel region and then look at how a child's biologically embedded predispositions towards health are actually helped along by the community," Professor McMurray said.

"What we'll try to do is show how a child is affected by the environment in which they live. "We'll be looking at their physical, social and family environments, including education, culture and recreation."

The team is seeking government and private sector partners to help fund the project, expected to start early next year.

The researchers will work closely with GPs and other medical professionals, as well as social service providers and families to look at the range of services in the region and the types of families who use these.

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WORLD-FIRST STUDY TO TRACK CHILD DEVELOPMENT
More than 2000 Western Australian families are expected to take part in a proposed world-first
health study aimed at building better communities for children.
The Murdoch University community health study will track hundreds of children from conception
to teenage years, giving health experts unparalleled insight into child development.
The project will be run by Murdoch's Peel Health Campus Nursing Chair Professor Anne
McMurray who will work closely with child health experts from Professor Fiona Stanley's Telethon
Institute for Child Health Research.
The study will focus on the growing Peel region which has a high proportion of young families but
also a number of health risks in some groups.
"We want to create a profile of the Peel region and then look at how a child's biologically
embedded predispositions towards health are actually helped along by the community,"
Professor McMurray said.
"What we'll try to do is show how a child is affected by the environment in which they live.
"We'll be looking at their physical, social and family environments, including education, culture
and recreation."
The team is seeking government and private sector partners to help fund the project, expected to
start early next year.
The study will seek to find how the community impacts on child development and how it can help
create a healthy environment for children.
"It is the first time we've been able to mobilise an entire community to bring knowledge of child
health. It will show a detailed picture of the health of the Peel community," Professor McMurray
said.
"As partners with the community, we will be looking at biological indicators of child health and
feeding that information back to the community every step of the way as the children grow up."
It is expected about 2000 families will take part in the study which will track the development of
children from conception through to the age of 15.
The researchers will work closely with GPs and other medical professionals, as well as social
service providers and families to look at the range of services in the region and the types of
families who use these.
"We want to hear from the mums and dads and the grandparents if there are things they would
like us to include in the study," Professor McMurray said.
The project could be extended to cover other aspects of family life, such as transitional parenting
forced by the fly-in, fly-out nature of mining and military jobs and the pressures faced by working
grandparents who look after young children.
"When you bring people together like this study will do, the chances of people falling through the
cracks are lower," Professor McMurray said.
"We want to look at the potential of a community to reduce risks and create a more connected
environment."
Professor McMurray is passionate about community health and has written six books on the
subject.
The Peel Development Commission has funded a preliminary study to map the scope of services
in the region as a basis for the project.