A new study will follow children in Durham from before birth through the age of 21 to see how environmental factors affect their development.
The National Children’s Study is targeting 100,000 participants from across the country, and Durham was chosen along with six other counties in the state.
They join the 105 counties nationally participating in the study, chosen through a probability sample.
Durham and Duplin counties were targeted to get started first, said Anna Maria Siega-Riz, one of the co-principal investigators for the N.C. Center for the National Children’s Study as well as for the Durham site.
UNC, Duke University and Battelle Memorial Institute will be collaborating on the study in Durham county.
This is an observational study, so it won’t interfere with participants’ lives, Siega-Riz said. Information will be collected through questionnaires, biological samples, environmental samples and medical records.
The study is mainly focused on the early determinants of childhood diseases as well as what factors are influencing childhood development. The end goal is to provide a database that’s applicable to the United States as a whole, Siega-Riz said.
“This will develop a resource that will allow us to better understand environmental factors that are associated with childhood health and development,” she said.
Environment is used as a broad term in this study. It includes the children’s schools, neighborhoods, eating habits, families, air quality and many other factors affecting child health, said Barbara Entwisle, principal investigator for the N.C. Study Center for the National Children’s Study.
“This is a landmark study of environment and children’s health. It’s a study that begins when children are still in the womb and ends when they become adults,” said Entwisle said.
The main study is scheduled to begin this year, Siega-Riz said.
In Durham County, women will be recruited through providers’ offices. When they arrive for prenatal care, they will be asked to participate if their addresses are in pre-selected Durham neighborhoods. This recruiting will start in mid-to-late October, she said.
“There’s been a lot of excitement,” Entwisle said. “We’ve been really impressed with the interest and enthusiasm.” The results are intended to be nationally representative of the U.S., Siega-Riz said. The study will represent individuals from all ethnicities, income levels, education levels and backgrounds, she said.
“The (National Children’s Study) will provide an enormous amount of information that will further understanding of the complex factors underlying health and disease throughout pregnancy, infancy, childhood and into adulthood,” Penny Gordon-Larsen, a professor in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, said in an e-mail.
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