The link between cousin marriage and child ill health

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In the UK and across Europe, cousin marriage is coming under increased scrutiny - particularly from doctors, who warn that children of first cousins are more likely to suffer an array of health problems. Now, there is some new, potentially worrying data from Bradford to add into that mix. Researchers at the city’s university are entering their 18th year of the Born in Bradford study - one of the biggest medical trials of its kind, which has followed the development of dozens of children who have parents who are first cousins, mostly from Bradford’s Pakistani community. The journalist Luke Mintz and the BBC producer Sue Mitchell have been looking into the issue, as part of a Radio Four documentary.