"The effect will be fewer children with congenital anomalies."
Research has revealed that 46% of Bradford’s female Pakistani community are in relationships with their cousins.
A decade ago, a Government-funded surveillance project found that 62% of Pakistani heritage women were in consanguineous relationships.
The figure has since dropped to 46%.
It comes amid a push to ban first-cousin marriage.
Independent MP Iqbal Mohamed caused controversy when he spoke against the motion.
One senior Tory said it was “shocking” that an MP would “defend this revolting practice”.
Experts began tracking the prevalence of consanguinity in Bradford in the late noughties.
Nearly 12,500 pregnant women were asked about their relationship status with the father of their children.
The study was repeated with another cohort of 2,400 women between 2016 and 2019.
Dr John Wright, chief investigator, spoke of the “significant shift” seen in just under a decade.
He described cousin marriage as having gone from a “majority activity to now being just about a minority activity”.
Dr Wright added: “The effect will be fewer children with congenital anomalies.”
The figures may indicate that the number of Pakistani people marrying cousins across the UK as a whole is also falling.
Reasons behind the drop are thought to include high educational attainment, stricter immigration rules and changes in family dynamics.
In the study, the team said: “It may be we are seeing generational changes and newly evolving societal norms.
“But these changes need to be monitored to see if they are indications of a lasting change and they need to be considered in other settings where consanguinity is common to see how widespread these reductions in consanguinity are.”
Over half of the residents living in the Bradford West constituency are Pakistani.
The figure is 36% in Bradford East and nearly 17% in Bradford South – the city’s two other constituencies.
Birmingham also has a large Pakistani community, with up to 40% of people being of that ethnicity in parts of the city.
Studies have put Pakistan as having one of the highest rates globally at 65% of consanguineous unions.
This is followed by India (55%), Saudi Arabia (50%), Afghanistan (40%), Iran (30%) and Egypt and Turkey (20% each).
Data suggests the risk of a child of first cousins developing a genetic condition is up to 6 per cent, double that of children from unrelated parents.
While this means the majority of children born in such circumstances will be healthy, the increased risk is undeniable.
As well as birth defects, potential conditions children of first cousins are at increased risk of include developmental delays and ongoing genetic disorders.
These can include conditions such as blindness, low IQ, cleft palate, heart problems, cystic fibrosis, and even an increased risk of infant death.
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