The Born in Bradford project will give a lasting legacy not only for the people of Bradford, but also for the Mirpur region of Pakistan which has strong links with the city.

It is planned to run a parallel birth cohort study in Mirpur at the same time as the Bradford research to establish if where you grow up has an impact on health.

While some of the Bradford babies will grow up in deprivation, it will not be on the same scale as some areas of Mirpur which do not have running water.

The majority of the South Asian population in Bradford have their family origins in Mirpur - out of the 80,000 people of Pakistani origin living in Bradford, 60,000 come from the region - and this will be an unique opportunity to find out how living in a Western society can affect the health and development of children with the same genetic make-up.

It is intended to include rural and urban births to provide comparisons within the country and the Bradford babies.

Research questions will be developed by researchers in the Pakistan team in consultation with local communities.

It is hoped this component of the study will provide new insights into the impact of lifestyle and environment on health and the effect of migration from one of the poorest to one of the richest countries in the world.

Dilshad Khan, director of equality and diversity for Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: "What we are hoping to do is match the study as closely as possible to the Bradford study by concentrating on children born in Mirpur.

"During the study we would hope to recruit five to seven thousand babies. The government of the region is keen to support this as well as the Medical Research Council.

"Everyone is behind this research. If we can find out the causes of illness it is for the betterment of all communities."

The babies born in Mirpur will be recruited to the study through the local hospital and will be followed up by researchers.

"There will be so many questions that will be asked," said Mr Khan.

"The premise will be that some diseases are more prevalent because of a Western way of life.

"We want to get answers to these questions. How does lifestyle affect the future of individuals and their health?

"This really is a unique opportunity to improve the health and well-being of everyone."