The goal of the National Children's Study is to help improve the health and well-being of children for generations to come. The Study will examine important health issues, including birth defects and pregnancy-related problems, autism, asthma, obesity, and diabetes, with the hopes of determining their root causes and the links between children’s environments and their health.
The National Children's Study is a long-term study that will follow pregnant mothers and their children from before birth to age 21. Study researchers hope to better understand how children's genes and their environments interact to affect their health and development. In the Study, "environment" includes factors such as air, water, and house dust; what children eat; how they are cared for; the safety of their neighborhoods; how often they see a doctor; and other factors.
Findings from the Study will benefit all Americans by providing researchers, health care providers, and public health officials with information from which to develop prevention strategies, health and safety guidelines, and possibly new treatments and cures for disease.
Starting in the spring of 2009, household interviewers from the University of Utah Department of Pediatrics will be visiting over 7,000 homes in scientifically selected neighborhoods throughout Salt Lake County. Our field staff will be inviting eligible women from these neighborhoods who are in their first trimester of pregnancy to participate in the Study. The women who participate in the Study will be helping to improve the health and well-being of children all across the United States.