The National Children's Study Looks at Long-Term Connection Between Children's Health and the Environment

Finally, a large-scale national study is being conducted to look at how the environment affects children's health and development over the long term. The National Children's Study will follow 100,000 children across the U.S. from before birth to age 21.

The first of its kind, the National Children's Study is designed to examine the effects of environmental influences on the health and development of more than 100,000 children across the United States, following them from before birth to age 21. The study is being led by a consortium of federal agency partners, including the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Education and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Hopefully, this study will give the medical community in the United States the information needed to advocate for more control over what chemicals from the environment negatively affect young children.

The goal of the study is to improve the health and well-being of children. Researchers will analyze how the interaction between the environment and the child affects long-term growth and development. Even though the study is long term, the information gathered will be made available as soon as it is collected, so that future studies can address uncovered needs. Public and private organizations are being utilized from the study's planning to implementation stages, rather than have the study directed by a single agency.

The first phase of the National Children's Study was devoted to planning. The study is now in the implementation phase, and locations of where the study will be conducted are being released. The find out more about the study, watch an informational video or see where the study sites are located, visit the National Children's Study website: www.nationalchildrensstudy.gov.