The National Children’s Study will examine environmental influences on children’s health and development. The Study defines “environment” broadly and will take into account:
- Biological and chemical factors
- Physical surroundings
- Social factors
- Behavioral influences and outcomes
- Genetics
- Cultural and family influences and differences
- Geographic locations.
Researchers will analyze how these elements interact with each other to help determine which aspects of the environment are harmful and which are harmless or helpful to children’s health and development. By linking a range of environmental factors to multiple health and development outcome measures, the Study will help pinpoint the root causes of many of today’s major childhood disorders, such as:
- Asthma
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Neurodevelopmental disorders
- Injuries
- Birth defects.
Too often in the past, children were thought of as “little adults.” Many of the outcomes from research conducted in adults were applied to the health and development of children under this assumption. We now know that children have fundamental differences in health and development when compared to adults. These differences contribute to children’s heightened susceptibility to environmental toxins, such as lead or pesticides.
Children have disproportionately heavy exposures to environmental toxicants due to their greater intake pound-for-pound of food, water, and air, coupled with their unique behaviors – in particular, hand-to-mouth behavior. Children’s metabolic pathways, especially in the first months after birth, are immature. In many instances, they are less able than adults to deal with toxic compounds. During these early months, children are undergoing rapid growth and development. These developmental processes create windows of great vulnerability in which the course of development can be permanently disrupted by environmental toxins. Because children have more future years of life than adults, they may have more time to develop chronic diseases that may be initiated by early exposures. The susceptibility of children, and the years of life they have ahead of them, creates a unique opportunity for the National Children’s Study to examine these exposures and possibly suggest ways to minimize exposure so as to improve the health and well-being of children now and in the future.
The New York-Northern New Jersey NCS Center is currently conducting the Study in Queens (Vanguard Center), New York.
The National Children’s Study will be conducted at 105 locations throughout the United States. To learn more about the Study, please visit www.nationalchildrensstudy.gov.