Cohorts are studies also known as longitudinal studies, which are based on the identification of a group of individuals and on their follow-up over a period of time. The term cohort was created for referring to groups of soldiers who marched together in Roman legions during the Roman Empire.
The 4.231 babies born at Pelotas (RS) between January the first and December the thirty-first of 2004 participate of a huge epidemiological study known as 2004 Birth Cohort. This study is part of one of the biggest birth cohort programs of the world, and the biggest among developing countries. The 2004 Birth Cohort is the third study of its kind developed by the Center of Epidemiological Research (CPE) and by the Postgraduate Program in Epidemiology at the UFPel.
The first birth cohort study has identified 5.914 alive neonates who lived at the urban area of Pelotas in 1982. The second one has found 5.249 alive neonates in 1993. More than identifying, the three birth cohort studies have been following their participants since their birth until nowadays. The main objective of this research is to evaluate the influence of birth inherent factors in the participant's health during their lives.
Together, the three birth cohorts have more than 15 thousand participants with an 11-year interval between each group. With this universe, the researchers have been documenting a true epidemiological change in many aspects related to health.
Besides documenting, the birth cohorts’ studies of Pelotas have subsidized local and national government actions that resulted in the reduction of child mortality, from 20 deaths of every 1.000 alive newborns to 12,3 deaths of every 1.000 newborns between the years of 2004 and 2007.
