How Many People Will Participate in the Study?
The National Children’s Study will examine the effects of environmental influences on the health and development of 100,000 children across the United States, following them from before birth until age 21.
How Will Participants Be Selected?
The Study will recruit pregnant women and women of childbearing age who may soon become pregnant. Participation in the Study is voluntary. Families who participate in the National Children’s Study will come from 105 designated Study locations, which include U.S. counties or, in some rural areas, groups of counties from across the country, and will be from many different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. Ultimately, segments or neighborhoods from each county will be scientifically selected for enrolling participants.
In these locations, Study teams will work with health care professionals and community leaders to recruit women who are pregnant or are likely to become pregnant in the near future for participation in the Study. Most families will be recruited door-to-door. Others will join through their local physicians’ offices, health clinics, and hospitals.
How Were the Study Locations Selected?
The National Children’s Study has selected hundreds of neighborhoods across the United States to take part in the Study. By using a scientific, probability based sampling method, the Study ensures that participants represent the diversity of U.S. births. By using the method, all areas and births within the enrollment period have a known probability of having been included in the Study.
How Do I Know If I Am Eligible?
Only families who live within the pre-selected Study neighborhoods will be eligible to participate in the Study. To find out if you are eligible to participate in the Study, contact your local Study Center.
Why Is It Important to Participate in the National Children’s Study?
Participation in the National Children’s Study is a unique opportunity to be a part of a landmark health effort. It will be one of the richest research efforts geared towards studying children’s health and development and will form the basis of child health guidance, interventions, and policy for generations to come.
The National Children’s Study will examine important health issues to establish links between children’s environments and their health. By tracking children’s development through infancy, childhood, and early adulthood, the Study hopes to determine the root causes of many childhood and adult diseases.
How Will the Study Collect Information From Participants?
The Study will collect information on the same people from before birth into adulthood. By following children and families for 21 years or more, the Study will collect information about health at different ages or stages of growth and in various situations. This information will shed light on the factors that influence health and development as people grow.
Initially, researchers will collect information on women’s pregnancies, including their diets, environments, chemical exposures, and emotional stress. When their children are born, and periodically thereafter, researchers will interview participants and collect biologic samples and environmental samples like air, water, and dust from their environments.
Families will visit their Study Center on a few occasions during the baby’s first year of life and less frequently in future years. During the visits, health professionals will collect samples such as urine, blood, hair, and other information regarding the child’s environment and health status. Families can expect to receive information about the research findings from Study coordinators by phone, mail, and the Internet, and through home visits. In home visits, a nurse or health research assistant will meet with the parents or caregivers to collect samples of indoor air, water, or other environmental components.
When Will Enrollment Begin?
Families will join the Study, or enroll, beginning in some communities in the winter of 2009. Other communities will begin enrolling families over the next couple of years.