Why Am I?

In 1972 the University of Otago Medical School embarked on a remarkable project - the ultimate Nature/Nurture test. They decided to follow every one of the 1,037 babies born in the city of Dunedin between April 1972 and March 1973 for their entire lives.

Those children have become the 1,000 most studied people in the world. For over four decades every aspect of their health and development has been monitored – their genes, their growth, their physical wellbeing, their psychology, their emotional ups and downs, criminal convictions, successes, failures – the lot.

The result is the Dunedin Longitudinal Study – the broadest and most in-depth study of human beings in the world. With an unprecedented 96% of study members continuing to participate the project has become the richest and most productive archive of human development - anywhere. It is truly unique and it is re-writing the book on what makes us all human.

'Why Am I?' details the study's findings, and explores what they have to say about all our lives.