The influence of prenatal factors in the determination of conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and obesity is well reported with maternal health and prenatal environment known to influence development throughout the life course. The development of myopia (short sight) has been explored previously with studies concentrating on the growth of the child. Early life and maternal influences on myopia have been examined in two British birth cohorts, ALSPAC and the 1958 Birth cohort, with some association between birth weight and growth being reported. Northstone at al. 2013 (ALSPAC) investigated growth trajectories from birth to age ten years (excluding puberty) and found minimal association between growth over the first ten years of life and the development of myopia, however maternal measures were not included in the analysis nor was growth tracked through puberty, a key time of myopia development. Separate analysis of the 1958 Birth cohort found some evidence of association between mothers’ height and myopia (1% increase in risk per centimetre increase in maternal height).
We are interested in analysing data previously collected by the ALSPAC team detailing measures of vision, degree of myopia and growth (height, weight and obesity) of the participating children through childhood and puberty, and in particular investigate the association of maternal factors such as maternal height, weight and obesity with the development of myopia.