National Study Recruits Expectant Mothers to Study How Environment and Genes Affect Their Children’s Health

The National Institutes of Health is recruiting volunteers for a comprehensive study of how genes and the environment affect children’s health, according to a press release from the NIH.

The first phase of the recruitment targeted expectant mothers in Duplin County, N.C., and Queens, N.Y., in order to study 100,000 children from before birth through their 21st birthdays.

“The principal benefit of a large scale, long-term study like the National Children’s Study is that it will uncover important health information at virtually every phase of life,” said Duane Alexander, M.D., Director of NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), one of a consortium of federal agencies implementing the study. “Initially, it will provide major insights into disorders of birth and infancy, such as preterm birth and its health consequences. Ultimately it will lead to a greater understanding of adult disorders, many of which are thought to be heavily influenced by early life exposures and events.”

Roughly 40 study centers will recruit volunteers from 105 designated locations throughout the United States. The study locations are counties and clusters of counties chosen by the National Children’s Study researchers.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine began recruiting study volunteers in January. This month, five more centers began enrolling women in the study. Each center is expected to have recruited approximately 375 volunteers by the end of 18 months.

A list of the seven center locations is available on the National Children’s Study Web site.