There have been >700 articles published by February 2012; details of these can be found on the ALSPAC study website.16 A summary of some of the key ALSPAC findings has recently been published elsewhere.17 Notable examples of how ALSPAC findings have informed health and social policy include the following: (i) providing evidence to help persuade policy makers to support the ‘back to sleep’ policy change. This campaign started in the UK prior to ALSPAC's initiation, and initially advised parents not to place their babies to sleep in the prone position to reduce the risk of cot death. ALSPAC reassured sceptical health professionals and policy makers to proceed to recommending the supine position by demonstrating that this position was not associated with factors detrimental to child health.18,19 This finding also helped to persuade the US National Institutes of Health to carry out their own ‘Back to Sleep’ campaign that started in 2004. (ii) The finding that the application of skin creams containing peanut oil as a base ingredient to broken skin20,21 sensitized children to peanut allergy has led to some manufacturers
