Twins have joined the TwinsUK registry at different points since it was set up in 1992. Even if twins attended all of their twin visits, we would only have a few weight and blood pressure measurements for them since they joined the TwinsUK registry.

By linking to other health records however like those held by a twin’s GP, we would be able to see more weight and blood pressure measurements taken throughout their lifetime. This would help us fill in any gaps in our data from twins who joined TwinsUK later on, or those who are no longer able to attend visits in person. We would also be able to look further back to weight and blood pressure measurements from before the twins joined TwinsUK. This would give us a lot of valuable information for our research.