Westat to Co-ordinate Children's Health Study

The US government's National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) has appointed Westat to collect and analyse data for its National Children's Study - planned to be the largest study ever undertaken to assess the effects of the environment on child and adult health.

The study will follow a representative sample of more than 100,000 children from before birth through adulthood, measuring environmental exposures while tracking their health and development. Researchers plan to examine the food children eat, the air they breathe, their schools and neighbourhoods, the frequency of visits to a healthcare provider, and even the composition of dust in their homes. The aim is to gather evidence about environmental influences on health, and find ways to prevent disease.

The study will be piloted by six 'vanguard centers': the University of California; University of North Carolina; Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York; Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Drexel University School of Public Health, Philadelphia; University of Utah; and the University of Wisconsin and Medical College of Wisconsin. The centers will work within their communities to recruit participants, collect and process data, and pilot new research methods for incorporation into the full study. Westat will co-ordinate the research and data collection across the centers, and will ensure that the study proceeds according to design.

The US Surgeon General Richard Carmona explained that the study is looking to find the root causes of many common diseases and disorders. 'When we do find them,' he said, 'we'll be in a position to prevent them from ever occurring'. He added that the study could also shed light on the effects of secondhand smoke, lead, radon, and asbestos, pointing out that 'one in five schools in America has indoor air quality problems, which affect millions of children who don't even realize it'.

The NICHD is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the biomedical research arm of the federal government. NIH is online at www.nih.gov . Westat's web site is at www.westat.com.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.