Welcome to the University of Texas Health Science Study Center. Explore this site to learn more about the National Children’s Study in Bexar County. Bexar County was selected as one of the first locations in Texas to be part of the National Children’s Study.
The National Children’s Study will look at how the environment affects the health and development of more than 100,000 children across the United States. It will follow the children from before they are born until they are 21 years of age. Study researchers hope to learn how children’s genes and their environments interact to affect children’s health and development.
In the Study, “environment” includes things such as: the air that they breathe, the water that they drink, and the dust in their home, what children eat, how they are cared for, the safety of their neighborhoods, and how often they see a doctor. By studying children through different parts of their lives, researchers will be better able to understand how these factors affect lifelong health and disease.
The National Children’s Study will be one of the richest research efforts geared towards studying children’s health and development. It will form the basis of child health guidance, interventions, and policy for generations to come.