BIBO Study
basale invloeden op de baby ontwikkeling

The BIBO study is an ongoing, prospective longitudinal project designed to understand how the development of behavioral and physiological regulation, as well as physical health, are influenced by early (prenatal) environmental factors and individual characteristics. BIBO stands for the Dutch ‘Basale Invloeden op de Baby Ontwikkeling’, which translates as ‘Basal Influences on the Baby’s Development’.

The BIBO cohort is a healthy community sample (N=193), that has been followed from pregnancy until the age of 14 years, has relatively low attrition, and has delivered 59 publications to date. Children were followed intensively in their first postnatal year, and further assessments were carried out at 2.5, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 16 years. At 10 years we had 13% attrition and at 14 years 19% attrition (N=157 children still in the study). The 16-year assessment round was completed Dec 2023. There are 153 children (79%) still in the study. Currently, an 18-year-round is being executed.

This study is unique worldwide because of its length, rich data set, and type of data sampled (biological, including stress hormones, genes, and gut microbiota, psychological, behavioral, health). The scientific value of this cohort has not remained unnoticed, and has led to current collaborations on joint analyses of the Bibo data with McGill University, Canada; Penn State University, US; Yale University, US; University of California, US; University of Maryland, US; Max Planck Institute Berlin, Germany; Leiden University, Netherlands; Utrecht University, Netherlands; University of Amsterdam, Netherlands; Wageningen University, Netherlands.

The following people from our lab are working in this study: Nicole Rheinheimer, Nina Bruinhof, Stefania Vacaru, Roseriet Beijers, Carolina de Weerth.

Watch here a short video about the BIBO Study: