Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • COVID-19 articles
    • Obituary notices
  • Authors & Reviewers
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
    • Open access
    • Patient engagement
  • Physicians & Subscribers
    • Benefits for Canadian physicians
    • CPD Credits for CMA Members
    • Subscribe to CMAJ Print
    • Subscription prices
    • Obituary notices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2023
    • Avis de décès
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN

User menu

Search

  • Advanced search
CMAJ
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN
CMAJ

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • COVID-19 articles
    • Obituary notices
  • Authors & Reviewers
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
    • Open access
    • Patient engagement
  • Physicians & Subscribers
    • Benefits for Canadian physicians
    • CPD Credits for CMA Members
    • Subscribe to CMAJ Print
    • Subscription prices
    • Obituary notices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2023
    • Avis de décès
  • Visit CMAJ on Facebook
  • Follow CMAJ on Twitter
  • Follow CMAJ on Instagram
  • Listen to CMAJ podcasts
News

US children's study escapes knife

Janet Rae Brooks
CMAJ June 05, 2007 176 (12) 1694; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.070552
Janet Rae Brooks
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF
Loading
  • © 2007 Canadian Medical Association

A massive study of the genetic and environmental causes of illness in American children is set to begin recruiting subjects next year after a late cash infusion from the US Congress.

The National Children's Study hopes to pinpoint causes of many diseases, including autism, asthma, diabetes and obesity, by tracking the health and environments of 100 000 children from the womb to their 21st birthdays.

Congress earmarked $69 million for the study in February, which exceeds the total amount spent on the project since its creation in 2000. The study was slated for termination under President George W. Bush's budget recommendations for the 2007 fiscal year.

Led by the US Department of Health and Human Services — through the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — and by the Environmental Protection Agency, the study will cost an estimated $3.5 billion. Advocates say it is a bargain, considering the hundreds of billions spent annually to treat sick children in the United States.

Future funding is not certain. Bush's 2008 budget allocates no money to the study; Congress is funding it year to year.

Study participants have yet to be born. The study will be the first to examine prenatal exposures and then track offspring to adulthood. Researchers will start enrolling pregnant women and those of childbearing years in the summer of 2008.

Sampling statisticians selected 105 locations nationwide to ensure the study would include rural and urban children from a wide range of ethnic, racial and economic backgrounds. Enrolment will begin first at 7 Vanguard Centers selected in 2005. Most participants will be recruited door-to-door. Others will be enrolled through health clinics, hospitals or their doctors.

Figure

Figure. The ambitious US National Children's Study hopes to track over 100 000 children from the womb through their 21st birthday. Photo by: Corbis/Magma

In March, hospitals, medical schools and local health departments in the selected areas were asked to submit proposals to operate 20 more study centres. Researchers will archive tissue samples, including placenta and baby teeth, from each child, and regularly collect environmental samples, such as air, house dust, backyard soil and drinking water. Samples will also be collected at the children's day-care centres and schools. Families will even be asked to freeze portions of home-cooked meals, so they can be analyzed for composition and contaminants. How the children are cared for, how often they see a doctor and the safety of their neighbourhoods will also be tracked.

Researchers will analyze data as it is collected, releasing the first results 2–3 years after launch. New questions are likely to emerge from early findings and will be addressed as the study continues. Findings could answer age-old nature-versus-nurture questions and inform treatment of childhood diseases for generations.

PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Canadian Medical Association Journal: 176 (12)
CMAJ
Vol. 176, Issue 12
5 Jun 2007
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author

Article tools

Respond to this article
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
To sign up for email alerts or to access your current email alerts, enter your email address below:
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on CMAJ.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
US children's study escapes knife
(Your Name) has sent you a message from CMAJ
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the CMAJ web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
US children's study escapes knife
Janet Rae Brooks
CMAJ Jun 2007, 176 (12) 1694; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.070552

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
‍ Request Permissions
Share
US children's study escapes knife
Janet Rae Brooks
CMAJ Jun 2007, 176 (12) 1694; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.070552
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Saying goodbye to CMAJ News
  • National survey highlights worsening primary care access
  • How Canadian hospitals are decreasing carbon emissions
Show more News

Similar Articles

Collections

  • Topics
    • Pediatrics

 

View Latest Classified Ads

Content

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Collections
  • Sections
  • Blog
  • Podcasts
  • Alerts
  • RSS
  • Early releases

Information for

  • Advertisers
  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • CMA Members
  • CPD credits
  • Media
  • Reprint requests
  • Subscribers

About

  • General Information
  • Journal staff
  • Editorial Board
  • Advisory Panels
  • Governance Council
  • Journal Oversight
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright and Permissions
CMAJ Group

Copyright 2023, CMA Impact Inc. or its licensors. All rights reserved. ISSN 1488-2329 (e) 0820-3946 (p)

All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Canadian Medical Association or its subsidiaries.

To receive any of these resources in an accessible format, please contact us at CMAJ Group, 500-1410 Blair Towers Place, Ottawa ON, K1J 9B9; p: 1-888-855-2555; e: [email protected]

CMA Civility, Accessibility, Privacy

 

Powered by HighWire