ART students have brought groundbreaking research on Bradford’s children to life as part of a new exhibition.

The Born In Bradford project is one of the largest studies of its type in the country. It involved researchers recruiting 12,500 pregnant women between March 2007 and December 2010, and since then the lives of their 13,500 children have been tracked through research studies and the use of and educational data.

The study has looked at a range of issues, such as that causes childhood obesity, how green spaces can improve children’s help and how deprivation can effect a child’s upbringing.

Since September students at the Bradford School of Art, based at Bradford College, have been looking at the research and findings of the study to create their own Born In Bradford inspired artwork. The work will go on display at the college’s Dye House Gallery for a week long exhibition, which starts today.

It will feature artwork from over 40 students, including clothing, photography, painting, fabric pieces and sculptures, with different pieces looking at different aspects of the study.

The work is also being marked, and will go towards students final grades.

Sally Robinson, programme leader for photography at the Bradford School of Art, said: “People from the project were interested in ways to engage the community a bit more about their work. It makes it a bit more visual other than just being statistics and facts.

“A project like this was good for the students because it helps them learn about ideas like deadlines, and how important they are for arts.”

Carole Griffiths, from the arts and design course, said: “They used the study as a starting point, but it is very open to interpretation. The work is in a lot of different media. The students have learned some great transferable skills.

“A lot of the local students are quite familiar with the project, a lot have siblings or even children who have been involved in the Born In Bradford project.”

They said the project was also an eye opener for the students, who learned a lot about health issues and the city they lived through researching their work.

The artwork reflects the project’s work looking at issues like obesity, how children develop through play, and the significance of growing up in an inner city area. Other artists chose to look at Bradford itself, with cityscapes and images of the city centre.

And fashion students created unique garments after talking with elderly Bradford women about what they have worn through their lives, and the memories associated with their clothing.

For his pieces, Thomas O’Hara took photos of some of the green areas on the outskirts of Bradford, including Ilkley, before transferring those images onto embroidery. He said: “It is inspired of by the idea of how important it is get out and get active within Bradford. Two thirds of Bradford is rural.”

Lynn Corner’s contributions to the exhibition include an image of her and her son Daniel, as well as paintings of street scenes of Bradford. She said: “I wanted to capture everyday life in Bradford. There is more of an emphasis on life studies, it is all about people. It is interesting seeing your work up in a big space like this rather than just in your workspace.”

Aisha Saddiqa looked at the importance of play to young people in her building block themed work, and how physical play is in danger of being overtaken by technology.

She said: “I listened to the BBC blog about Born in Bradford and the thing that stood out was child development. I have seen technology take over, and how children are always on phones, and you see babies watching TV. I wanted my pieces to bring back kinetic play and physical activity.”

Danish Arshad was one of the fashion design students who spoke to the older ladies for the project. He said: “We got to interview them about a lot of different things including what they wore growing up and how that effected them growing up. We drew inspiration from them.”

Joel Naulty, a graphic design student, did a computer generated piece inspired by the importance of green spaces and exercise in fresh air.

He said: “I thought to do a piece about getting out of your house and experiencing the outdoors, not just sitting in front of your TV.”

The gallery, in the College’s Lister Building, is open on Monday to Friday from 9am to 4pm, and the exhibition runs until March 1.