Frequently asked questions
Q1. Does my child have to take part?
No. It is up to you to decide whether or not your child takes part.
If you join and then change your mind, you can withdraw at any time without giving a reason or affecting any benefits that you and your child are entitled to.
If you join and then change your mind, you can withdraw at any time without giving a reason or affecting any benefits that you and your child are entitled to.
Q2. What if I have more than one eligible child?
Currently we are only able to include one child per household. This helps us ensure a balanced representation of children. If the study later requires participation from siblings, we may get in touch with you to explore that possibility.
Q3. How long will my child be involved for?
Children will be in the study for up to 18 months, depending on when you choose to fill in food records and which community measurement centre you are able to attend.
After the study ends, we will securely store information for up to 10 years before destroying it. If we plan any future studies that require additional information, we will contact you at that time with full details and ask for your consent again.
You can also optionally consent to us accessing wider health or community records for you or your child. In the future we may want to ask different research questions for the benefit of families in your area and across the UK.
To do this we would use data already collected as part of the Growing Well Study and would secure ethical approvals to securely and confidentially (without knowing whose data is being used) link other data such as GP or hospital records. Only approved researchers would be able to access data and it would be treated in strictest confidence.
After the study ends, we will securely store information for up to 10 years before destroying it. If we plan any future studies that require additional information, we will contact you at that time with full details and ask for your consent again.
You can also optionally consent to us accessing wider health or community records for you or your child. In the future we may want to ask different research questions for the benefit of families in your area and across the UK.
To do this we would use data already collected as part of the Growing Well Study and would secure ethical approvals to securely and confidentially (without knowing whose data is being used) link other data such as GP or hospital records. Only approved researchers would be able to access data and it would be treated in strictest confidence.
Q4. Will you contact me again in the future?
We will contact you during the study to keep you informed about the study and ask you to take part in the next steps. The consent form will also ask if you’re happy to be contacted about future studies. You can choose yes or no and can change your mind at any time.
If you change address, e-mail address or phone number please let us know. You can change this information by contacting us.
If you change address, e-mail address or phone number please let us know. You can change this information by contacting us.
Q5. Can we withdraw from the study?
Yes, you can withdraw at any time, and you don’t have to give a reason. You can also change your preferences about being contacted for future studies.
- Partial withdrawal: We will no longer contact you or collect any further information, but we will keep and use the data collected up to that point.
- Full withdrawal: We will no longer contact you and will delete all the data we have collected about your child. Note that we will only be able to exclude your child’s data from results not yet published.
If you want to withdraw, you can do so by contacting us.
Q6. What will happen to the results of the study?
These results will help inform health professionals (e.g. health visitors or doctors), and policymakers (the government) about children’s nutrition, growth, and dental health. We will share results through reports and presentations.
For you and other families we’ll share the results in ways that are interesting and easy to understand. We will send you a regular newsletter and a summary of the research findings.
You can also follow updates via our social media accounts and the study website.
For you and other families we’ll share the results in ways that are interesting and easy to understand. We will send you a regular newsletter and a summary of the research findings.
You can also follow updates via our social media accounts and the study website.
Q7. How will you protect my child’s personal information?
The University of Leeds is responsible for keeping your and your child’s personal information safe and secure. We take data privacy very seriously and will strictly control who can access any personal data. Any researcher who is given access must also agree to protect your/your child’s information.
Your/ your child’s data will be stored securely in line with the Data Protection Act 2018, the University of Leeds Data Protection Policies, and relevant security standards.
Where practical, we will remove identifiable information (names/addresses) from data and instead use a number code. This will help to keep files confidential. Any identifiable information will be stored separately in secure files and only used when we need to make contact with you.
When we need to share data between project partners (such as hospital teams, community researchers or the fieldwork team) we will follow strict data-sharing agreements. Only the minimum necessary information will be shared and in a de-identified format when possible.
Your child’s name and any identifiable information will never be used when the findings are published. It will never be possible to work out who you or your child are from the reports we write.
To learn more, please paste the following link online: https://dataprotection.leeds.ac.uk/research-participant-privacynotice/
Your/ your child’s data will be stored securely in line with the Data Protection Act 2018, the University of Leeds Data Protection Policies, and relevant security standards.
Where practical, we will remove identifiable information (names/addresses) from data and instead use a number code. This will help to keep files confidential. Any identifiable information will be stored separately in secure files and only used when we need to make contact with you.
When we need to share data between project partners (such as hospital teams, community researchers or the fieldwork team) we will follow strict data-sharing agreements. Only the minimum necessary information will be shared and in a de-identified format when possible.
Your child’s name and any identifiable information will never be used when the findings are published. It will never be possible to work out who you or your child are from the reports we write.
To learn more, please paste the following link online: https://dataprotection.leeds.ac.uk/research-participant-privacynotice/
Q8. What are my rights?
You have the right to access your data, request corrections, or raise concerns about how your data is being used. If you have any questions or concerns about your data, you can contact the University of Leeds Data Protection Officer: [email protected].
If you are not happy with how your data is being used, you also have the right to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO): https://ico.org.uk.
For more information about how and why your data is used in health and care research, you can read the Health Research Authority’s guidance for participants by pasting the following link online: https://www.hra.nhs.uk/planningand-improving-research/policies-standards-legislation/dataprotection-and-information-governance/gdprguidance/templates/template-wording-for-genericinformation-document/
If you are not happy with how your data is being used, you also have the right to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO): https://ico.org.uk.
For more information about how and why your data is used in health and care research, you can read the Health Research Authority’s guidance for participants by pasting the following link online: https://www.hra.nhs.uk/planningand-improving-research/policies-standards-legislation/dataprotection-and-information-governance/gdprguidance/templates/template-wording-for-genericinformation-document/