National Children’s Study is under way

The RSPH and Emory School of Medicine are participating in the ambitious National Children’s Study, which aims to enroll 100,000 pregnant women in 105 counties and then monitor their babies until they turn 21. Participants will complete questionnaires and undergo blood tests and home visits to evaluate environmental conditions. The goal is to learn how environment, genes, and other factors affect children’s health and identify possible causes behind the rise in autism, diabetes, hyperactivity, and other conditions.

Currently, Emory researchers are enrolling women in Baldwin County, Georgia. Women in DeKalb and Fayette counties and Bradley County, Tennessee, will be included next.

Emory is collaborating with Morehouse School of Medicine and the Battelle Memorial Institute in the long-term study.—Martha Nolan McKenzie