Bradford’s oldest resident has lent her support to a ground-breaking research project that aims to improve the health of the city’s very youngest.

Aged 104, Ivy Bean has attracted national interest as the oldest person on both Facebook and Twitter, with celebrities such as Peter Andre, Chris Evans and Calum Best, part of her worldwide fan club totalling more than 30,000 people.

From the lounge at Hillside Manor Care Home in Barkerend, the cyberspace centenarian has taken time out from daily tweeting to start the Facebook group for the Born in Bradford (BiB) project.

It is a joint enterprise by Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, NHS Bradford and Airedale and the University of Bradford and to date more than 9,000 babies born at Bradford Royal Infirmary have been recruited to take part.

They and their families will help doctors and researchers learn more about a range of health conditions, such as childhood obesity, kidney disease, allergies and infections and sudden infant deaths, such as cot deaths.

“Ivy is a true inspiration and the perfect ambassador to launch our Facebook page,” said Professor John Wright, director of the Bradford Institute of Health Research, based at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

“We now have almost 10,000 babies whose lives are part of the BiB programme and there is a strong community feel to the project among their families. “Although in its infancy, we hope our Facebook group will go from strength-to-strength and give all those who are part of the BiB programme an opportunity to make new friends and share their experiences.”

Ivy, who was born in Thornton on September 8, 1905, was six years old when the Titantic sank, about to celebrate her 21st birthday when the first television broadcast was made and already a pensioner when man landed on the moon.

Although confessing a weakness for fish and chips, she puts her longevity and slimness down to not drinking alcohol and a lifetime’s love of fresh fruit, salad and vegetables.

While growing up in the early 1900s brought its own health problems caused by overcrowded, damp housing, air pollution and poor nutrition, there were not the levels of asthma, eczema or diabetes witnessed in the 21st century – all conditions which are being investigated by BiB researchers.

The BiB Facebook group can be found by visiting facebook.com and searching for Born in Bradford or by going direct to facebook.com/group.php?v =wall&ref=search&gid=65142651583