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Additional reference

The Life Project: The Extraordinary Story of 70,000 Ordinary Lives - Helen Pearson
In March 1946, scientists began to track thousands of children born in one cold week. No one imagined that this would become the longest-running study of human development in the world, growing to encompass five generations of children. Today, they are some of the best-studied people on the planet, and the simple act of observing human life has changed the way we are born, schooled, parent and die. This is the tale of these studies and the remarkable discoveries that have come from them. Touching people across the globe, they are one of the world's best-kept secrets.

Birth cohort studies - University College London
The website for each cohort study is a great starting point to learn more. They provide an overview of the studies, a more comprehensive bibliography and, in some cases, details of questionnaires and other data collected. They also give a flavor of the enormous breadth of these studies and feature the most recent publications.