Dr. Michael Lu is the lead investigator of the National Children's Study, which follows children's development to get a better understanding of childhood diseases. (Brad Graverson / Staff Photographer)
Ever wonder ... what affect the smog in Los Angeles has on your children's health? Or the impact of San Pedro's oil refineries? Or the Port of Long Beach?
Well, the National Children's Study is launching a pilot program to research the impact of these and other environmental factors in children, through 37 study centers across the United States.
One of those hubs is the Los Angeles-Ventura Study Center, which is looking for residents of 14 Los Angeles County neighborhoods to participate in the pilot study. The neighborhoods include Alhambra, Brentwood, Compton, Crenshaw, Downey, downtown Los Angeles, Highland Park, Lancaster, Lennox, Lynwood, North Hills, San Pedro, Sun Valley and West Covina.
The full study - scheduled to launch in 2012 - will include 56 neighborhoods in Los Angeles County and 105 study locations nationwide.
"This is very much the largest, most ambitious study of children's health in this nation's history. It's going to be the landmark study of our generation," said Michael Lu, a lead investigator of the Los Angeles-Ventura Study Center.
"We are going to follow 100,000 children (nationwide) from before birth to 21 years of age and we are going to study the causes and prevention of some important childhood diseases such as asthma, obesity, autism, diabetes and birth defects."
The study will enroll women between the ages of 18 and 49 who are pregnant or likely to become pregnant within the year.
Some of the full study's protocols are still being worked out, Lu says, but a representative of the study will make an initial visit to the woman's home to collect air, soil and water samples.
Someone from the study also will be present at every birth, to measure the baby's body size and to collect samples such as placenta and cord blood. This is important, he says, because the study also will take into account the environment the children were exposed to while inside the womb.
"Now there's still a lot of questions that a lot of parents have in terms of what causes preterm birth, what causes birth defects, what causes autism," Lu said.
"What causes some of these diseases and more importantly what can we do as a nation to prevent it? I know certainly for Los Angeles County there are a lot of people that are asking questions about what's the impact of air pollution on birth defects, preterm birth or child asthma."
After the birth, a representative of the study will meet with the child and the family at regular intervals - more frequently in the beginning.
Though the study is concentrating on the environment, Lu says he recognizes it is unrealistic to expect participants to stay in one neighborhood throughout the 21 years. So researchers will track the movements of participants to find how the change of environment also affects their health and development.
The Los Angeles-Ventura Study Center is based at the UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families & Communities but is also in association with other local institutions including Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, USC and the Los Angeles Department of Public Health.
The study has been compared to the Framingham Heart Study - conducted in collaboration with the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and Boston University - which since 1948 has been researching and identifying the common factors that contribute to cardiovascular disease.
"I think this is a study that is long overdue," Lu said. "If we really want to understand the causes and the prevention of some of these major childhood diseases, if we want to learn how to promote children's health and well-being better in the U.S., then we really need to do this study."
The study likely will have its full findings in about 25 years, though some may be made available before then, says Lu.
The pilot is aimed at figuring out how to get families to enroll in such a study.
Dr. Armando De Leon is the community outreach manager for the Los Angeles-Ventura Study Center. He says the team will engage the public at different levels including through government, health care providers and school districts.
"We have to work in all these community levels to not only get support at the government level but to also let the public know we are here," De Leon said.
The plan is to bring preventative health education to these standing institutions as a way to get the word out about the study.
What's important for possible participants to know, says De Leon, is there are no drugs or treatments involved and participants will receive a stipend. The pilot study is not as in-depth as the full study will be and instead of at-home visits, participants will be asked to fill out a questionnaire every few months.
Some of the participants from the pilot program will be asked to be involved in the full study.
"There's still a number of things we are trying to learn to make sure this study is a success once we launch the (full) study," Lu said.
"We are currently launching this pilot study for the first 100 children in the study and eventually we would like to enroll a total of 4,000 children from Los Angeles County. But I think that for this next year we are really trying to figure out how to just engage women and families in the study."
The center has started sending out letters within the 14 neighborhoods asking families who are interested in participating to contact them.
Find out more
To learn more about the National Children's Study or for information about participating through the Los Angeles-Ventura Study Center, go to www.nationalchildrensstudy.gov/studylocations/pages/LosAngeles.aspx or call 877-834-7064.
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