Research priorities in this area are obesity, hyperlipidemia, and insulin resistance in childhood and adolescence. Special emphasis is placed on developing methods for detecting potential diabetics in childhood and for developing successful techniques of immunomodulation to prevent or mitigate the body's immune attack on the pancreatic beta cell. Similarly, studies of obesity and hyperlipidemia focus on the etiology, consequences, and prevention of childhood obesity and hyperlipidemia. Studies of calcium intake during adolescence and the prevention of osteoporosis later in life are encouraged.
In addition, the Branch supports research on other aspects of pediatric endocrinology, including normal and abnormal development of the hypothalamo-pituitary adrenal, gonadal, and thyroid axes.
Obesity: The Branch has provided long-term support to scientists who are working to elucidate the genetic, environmental, and behavioral origins of obesity, including a recent initiative on prevention and treatment of childhood obesity in primary care settings, and school-based initiatives to prevent childhood obesity. The ENGB also leads an NICHD working group on obesity that recently developed a research initiative to address the origins and consequences of maternal obesity during pregnancy.
Atherosclerosis: Over the past decade, the Branch has supported research on identifying children who are susceptible to premature coronary artery disease, including predictive markers that are being incorporated into the revised National Cholesterol Education Program guidelines for children and adolescents. The Branch also held three research-planning workshops on risk factors in childhood, and on the precursors of the metabolic syndrome in childhood.
Diabetes: In an effort to prevent diabetes, the Branch has pioneered immunogenetic methods that stratify levels of risk for type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), also called juvenile diabetes. The Branch’s efforts include (but are not limited to) involvement in:
Osteoporosis: In response to an RFA on behavioral strategies to prevent osteoporosis later in life, investigators are studying the bone mineral density (BMD) of several thousand children, prospectively, to assess the effect of dietary and behavioral interventions. The ENGB also initiated the BMD in Childhood Study (BMDCS), a population-based longitudinal study of bone accretion in 1,550 children, from ages six to 16, to further understand this topic.
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