Thirty thousand Norfolk residents have been tracked for over two decades, providing detailed records of what they eat, how they move, their blood pressure, cholesterol, and genetic makeup, alongside repeated measures of bone health, vision, and mental performance. This matters because most studies of ageing look at people after disease has already set in. EPIC-Norfolk follows healthy middle-aged adults into old age, capturing the gradual biological and behavioural changes that precede illness. It fills a gap in understanding why some people age well while others develop heart disease, cancer, diabetes, or fractures—and whether diet, exercise, stress, or even access to green space can shift that trajectory. If the research succeeds, it will produce evidence that directly informs public health policy and clinical recommendations. The study has already shaped a Department of Health initiative on small lifestyle changes. Future findings could refine guidelines on diet and physical activity for older adults, help identify who is genetically susceptible to certain diseases, and suggest how modifying behaviour might offset that risk. The ultimate goal is to extend not just lifespan but the years people live in good health, with preserved physical and mental function.
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The aim of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer in Norfolk (EPIC-Norfolk) is to help us understand what we can do to improve health and prevent disease and disability in later life. There is a particular focus on patterns of diet and physical activity. EPIC-Norfolk is a study of 30,000 men and women living in Norfolk who first agreed to take part in the study in 1993 when aged 40-79 years of whom 25,00 attended a detailed health examination and who have been followed up to the present for health. At the original health examination in 1993-1997 they gave detailed information on their health and lifestyle, including very detailed diet and physical activity records, medical and family history, had assessments of heart disease risk factors including blood cholesterol and blood pressure, and provided blood and urine samples for analysis. Participants have continued to take part in repeated health assessments with further measures to assess bone health, eye health and visual function, and physical and mental performance, the most recent being between 2006-2011, and answered further questionnaires about their health including psychosocial factors such as stress and anxiety, sleep patterns and quality of life. We have thus been able to track the health experiences over 20 years of this middle aged older population who are comparable to the British general population. We are able to obtain an understanding of the risk factors for important diseases such as heart diseases and strokes, individual cancers, osteoporotic fractures, arthritis and diabetes and what we can do to reduce risk of these diseases. As the population ages, there is increasing emphasis on outcomes relevant to older people, not just disease occurrence and death, but functional capacity including physical function, mental function, visual health as well as self perceived quality of life. The detailed data available enable us to understand not just how the mind and body age biologically, but behavioural factors such as diet and physical activity may affect this process and how wider environmental determinants such as socioeconomic status, residential deprivation and access to green space can influence our health. This is an ongoing population study and have an active participants' panel that advises us on research questions of interest and future studies. Results from the study have already contributed to health policy and recommendations including a Department of Health Public Health initiative"Small changes Big difference". We have now been able to conduct genetic profiling of the participants to enable us to identify how our genetic make up can influence risk of disease and will explore how environmental factors such as health behaviours may modify genetic susceptibility. The current application is to maintain follow up of participants and assessments to understand how different individuals may age differently and further clarify what factors influence the ageing process and risk of disease and disability to enable interventions to improve health and quality of life.
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