The National Children’s Study of Children’s Health and the Environment

An Overview

Abstract

The National Children's Study will be the largest long-term study of children's health and development ever to be conducted in the United States. By tracking 100,000 children from before birth to age 21, the study will seek to better understand the links between the environments in which American children are raised and their physical and mental health and development. The study will produce information around multiple concerns, including pregnancy-related outcomes; injury; asthma; obesity, diabetes, and physical development; and child development and mental health. For the study, the “environment” is defined broadly, to include physical surroundings; biological and chemical factors; geography; and social, educational, behavioral, family, and cultural influences. This article provides an overview of the goals and objectives of the study, how and where environmental exposures will be defined and captured, the priority health outcome themes to be studied, how participants will be recruited, and study challenges.