UNC and N.C. roles expanded in landmark children's health and development study

CHAPEL HILL – The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has added three more areas of North Carolina and is expanding the role played by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in a long-term, wide-ranging study of the nation's children.

The NIH has announced that it will add Burke, Cumberland and Durham counties to the National Children's Study, which explores causes of health problems such as premature birth, birth defects, autism, obesity, injuries, heart disease, asthma and developmental delays. UNC's Carolina Population Center is contracted to enroll volunteers and run the study in the state.

The project, the largest longitudinal study of its kind ever conducted in the United States, will ultimately track 100,000 children, from before birth through the age of 21.

In North Carolina, the study is already underway in Duplin and Rockingham counties. Data collection will begin in Duplin County next year and in Burke, Durham and Rockingham counties in 2010. Cumberland County will begin a year later.

Barbara Entwisle, Ph.D., principal investigator of the study at UNC and director of the Carolina Population Center, said the study will examine the effects of social, behavioral, biological, community and environmental factors on children's health and development.

It will seek to answer multiple questions on multiple issues, such as:

• Can very early exposure to some allergens help children remain asthma-free?
• How do genes and the environment interact to promote or prevent violent behavior in teenagers?
• Are lack of exercise and poor diet the only reasons why many children are overweight?
• Do infections impact developmental progress, asthma, obesity and heart disease?
• How do city and neighborhood planning and construction encourage or discourage injuries?

"North Carolina will be well represented in the study with over 5,000 children and their families involved," said Entwisle. "Their information will contribute to a better understanding of children's health in North Carolina and throughout the United States." Entwisle is also Kenan Professor of Sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences.

"We are delighted to have a strong team of researchers and data collectors involved in this effort," said Nancy Dole, Ph.D., study co-director and deputy director of the center. "North Carolina has extensive expertise to bring to this landmark study," said Dole, who is also adjunct associate professor of epidemiology in the School of Public Health.