Health 2020

Health 2020 began as Health 2000 in 1990, when 41,500 people living in Melbourne were recruited.

It was set up to investigate the role of diet and other lifestyle factors in causing cancer and is one of Australia’s largest prospective cohort studies.

It focuses on the effect of lifestyle on cancer risk as well as the role of genetics and the influence our behaviour can have on our predisposition to disease.

Many Melburnians born in Italy and Greece were recruited for the study, to compare the impact of the Mediterranean diet with that of other Australians.

What's epidemiology?

Health 2020 is an epidemiology study. This is a type of medical research. Epidemiologists:

  • identify a disease they want to know the causes of or risks for
  • study a population to find out which people have the disease and which don’t
  • look at factors common to people who have the disease and who don’t have the disease
  • then combine this with other scientific knowledge to work out which factors may have caused the disease or helped prevent it.

Who funds Health 2020?

The study is large and a lot of cost is involved in interviewing thousands of people every few years, as well as taking and storing samples, then collating and analysing the data. It’s a huge undertaking, and we’ve been fortunate to have won the support not only of Cancer Council Victoria and VicHealth, but also the National Health and Medical Research Council.

Why are epidemiology studies like Health 2020 important?

Epidemiology confirms patterns that otherwise are only guessed at. With large-scale studies, we can follow groups of people over years and find links between cancer risk, lifestyle and genetics. Health 2020 is the only study of its kind in Australia. It's also globally unique in some aspects, for example in the high participation of Italian and Greek migrants.

How can I find out about Health 2020 research?

Did you know that Health 2020 is also known as the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study? When research based on Health 2020 is published in medical journals, that’s the study title we use. So if you’re searching the Internet, look for ‘Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study’.

Overview of Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study

Description of rationale and methodology.

Health 2020 newsletters

Updates for participants in this study.

Databook vol. 1: Clinical

Clinical data on demographics, pyhsical measurements and glucose and cholesterol.

Databook vol. 2: Health & Lifestyle

Health 2020 data covering social life, family, health, smoking, physical activity, women and feelings.

Databook vol. 3: Diet & Alcohol

Clinical data on diet, nutrient food groups and alcohol.

Health 2020 demographic data

General demographic data on each Health 2020 participant.

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