St. Louis, Macoupin County, Ill., children part of national study

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A team of researchers from several St. Louis-area universities and institutions will be part of what is being called the largest-ever study of child and human health, the National Institutes of Health said Thursday.

The National Children's Study will follow 100,000 randomly selected children from across the country from before birth to age 21. The goal is to learn more about environmental and genetic factors that affect the health and well-being of children and how those factors affect their health as adults.

In St. Louis, researchers will look at children in St. Louis city and nearby Macoupin County, Ill. The Saint Louis University School of Public Health is the lead institution for one of 22 new sites for the study and is receiving $26 million over the next five years.

The St. Louis team will also include researchers from the Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville School of Nursing, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield, and St. Louis Battelle Memorial Institute.

"What we find could be a potential gold mine of data for scientists who are studying what causes diseases in children," said Terry Leet, the lead investigator of the St. Louis portion of the study and chairman of community health at Saint Louis University's School of Public Health.

The study begins in 2009. Plans call for enrolling 250 children in St. Louis and 250 in Macoupin County, a rural county about 50 miles northeast of St. Louis. The study will begin from prior to conception or the first trimester of pregnancy, study leaders said.

"There are a lot of things that happen prior to birth that set the thermostat on how vulnerable you are to risk factors for diseases," said Louise Flick, co-principal investigator and professor of nursing from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville School of Nursing.

Researchers will gather information on a child's genetic makeup and biological, chemical, environmental, physical and psychosocial factors.

Environmental samples will be taken from air and water where children spend most of their time. Researchers will analyze their blood, urine, hair and fingernail samples.

Children will also be screened for asthma, birth defects, diabetes, injury susceptibility, obesity and physical and mental development disorders. The outcomes of pregnancies, such as pre-term delivery, also will be evaluated.

The cost of the nationwide project is estimated at $3 billion over the next 25 years. Congress appropriated $69 million in fiscal year 2007.

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