Helping children grow-up healthy: National children's study and public health nursing

Background:

The National Children's Study (NCS) is the largest study of children's health and development in the United States. The NCS will examine how the environment interacts with genetics and other factors to influence the health and development of 100,000 children from before birth to age 21. The NCS will provide information that will ultimately lead to improvements in the health, development, and well being of children. It will investigate the effects of environmental exposures (chemical, biological, physical, psychosocial) as well as gene-environment interactions on pregnancy outcomes, child health and development, and precursors of adult disease.

Methods:

The study will employ a national probability sampling method in 105 randomly selected U.S. counties to conduct the study. Seven locations will participate in the pilot phase of the NCS from 2009 – 2010 with other locations to begin enrollment after the pilot phase has been completed. Pregnant women and their partners, and women of childbearing age, comprise the target population for enrollment.

Results:

Nurses are involved in multiple aspects of the NCS. Nurse involvement at the hospital or birthing center will help the NCS collect critical data at the time of delivery. Nurses will also be engaged in recruitment and retention of study participants and translation of the findings into nursing practice.

Conclusions:

The NCS will answer important questions related to the environment and children's health, and so will provide the foundation for government policy, public health policy and practice, nursing and medical practice, and individual decisions that will improve the overall health of children.