DASH looks at how social (such as family life, socio-economic circumstances, neighbourhoods) and biological (such as weight, blood pressure) factors affect physical and mental health over the life course. DASH is important because it follows a very ethnically and culturally diverse group in London from childhood into adult life so it can track the health and social circumstances of people from different backgrounds over time.

DASH is a longitudinal study which means we follow up participants from childhood into adulthood to track changes in health and social circumstances over time. We are currently conducting a feasibility study with some of the original DASH participants. We are planning to do a full follow-up of all DASH participants who are now young adults and so we want to find out the best way to do this, such as what questions to ask and how to ask them, and how to get the most accurate health measurements.

DASH is funded by the Medical Research Council which is funded by the UK government to conduct research in health. You can visit their website (www.mrc.ac.uk) for more information. DASH is part of the Social and Public Health Sciences Unit which is in Glasgow but our researchers are based at Kings College London.