Tackling the challenges in conducting a 5-year longitudinal study of the Healthy Beginnings Trial.

The Healthy Beginnings Trial is a 5 year longitudinal study of 667 first-time mothers and their babies, conducted in some of the most socially and economically disadvantaged areas of Sydney between 2007 and 2013. The aim was to determine whether a homebased obesity intervention during the first 2 years of life is effective for children at 2, 3.5 and 5 years of age. The details of the results from the 2 year follow up are reported elsewhere, and the 3.5and 5-year follow-up of the trial is still underway. However, challenges conducting this longitudinal face-to-face survey are yet to be reported.