Nearly $69 million has been allotted for the study which will open centers in Georgia, Texas and 18 other states to help researchers understand how children's environment and genes affect their health. The first participants enrolled in the National Children's Study should be recruited as early as next 2008.
A combined effort by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Environmental Protection Agency, the study will follow 100,000 children from before birth to the age of 21.
Dr. Duane Alexander, director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development said, "These new centers join seven vanguard centers established in 2005."
"We anticipate a total of 25 to 40 centers in 105 locations. This will provide a sample of the diverse population of children in the United States."
The National Children's Study aims to understand the links between environmental, social, psychological and genetic factors and chronic health problems including asthma, obesity, autism, diabetes, injuries and schizophrenia.
"There is mounting evidence that the health habits and exposures of early childhood, perhaps starting before birth, affect the health and well-being of adults as well as children," Alexander added.
The study will examine multiple factors influencing health such as exposure to pesticides, pollution and other chemicals; family interactions and discipline; and watching TV and other media.
The results are expected to influence a variety of public policies and regulations, including restrictions on dangerous chemicals.
Some of the 22 sites approved today include: Brown University, Providence, R.I.; Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore; Northwestern University, Chicago; University of California, Los Angeles; University of Hawaii at Manoa; University of New Mexico, Albuquerque; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio.
