National children's study: Update in 2010

The National Children's Study will examine the effects of the environment and genetics on the growth, development, and health of children across the United States; it will follow participants from before birth until age 21 years. The goal of the study is to improve the health and well-being of children and contribute to understanding the roles various factors play in health and disease. Findings from the study will be made available as the research progresses, making potential benefits known to the public as soon as possible. A robust pilot study, or Vanguard Study, is underway to generate data for designing the subsequent Main Study. The goals of the Vanguard Study are feasibility, acceptability, and cost, and the goals of the Main Study will be exposure-response relationships and biological, environmental, and genetic interactions. The initial Vanguard Study experience among 7 study centers was successful in many ways, including delineating the topics to explore for the next phase of the Vanguard Study. Three different recruitment strategies are under evaluation to determine what approach to use for the Main Study. The organization of National Children's Study operations is currently based on a new decentralized business model.