Local organizations announce support for National Children’s Study
Multiple organizations stand behind the nation’s largest study of children’s health
June 24, 2009 College News - Businesses, communities and organizations around Wisconsin have pledged their support for the National Children’s Study’s Waukesha Vanguard Center.
In a jointly signed letter, the organizations said “as leaders who serve the health, social and educational needs of children and their families in Waukesha County, we support this Study. Many child health conditions like asthma, autism and obesity are more common than ever before. These conditions will make our children’s generation less healthy than our own.
“The National Children’s Study will follow 100,000 children from all over the U.S. from before birth to age 21. Information about the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the neighborhoods we live in will be collected. This information will help us figure out the causes of these conditions and ways that we can prevent them.”
“The outcomes of The National Children’s Study will help us improve the health and well being of all children,” said Karen Ordinans, Executive Director of the Children's Health Alliance of Wisconsin. “We will gain a better understanding of what we can prevent or manage when it comes to childhood disease or instilling healthy behaviors”
“We encourage families in Waukesha County to learn about the National Children’s Study and to participate in the Study if they are eligible” said Ordinans.
Local study supporters include:
• Aurora Health Care
• Autism Society of Southeast Wisconsin
• Children's Health Alliance of Wisconsin
• Children’s Hospital and Health System
• City of New Berlin
• City of Waukesha
• Cooperating Congregations of Waukesha County
• Easter Seals of Wisconsin
• Froedtert & Community Health
• Good Friend, Inc
• Healthy Families of Waukesha County
• Interfaith Senior Programs, Inc
• La Casa de Esperanza
• March of Dimes, Wisconsin Chapter
• ProHealth Care, Inc
• The Women's Center, Inc
• United Cerebral Palsy of Southeastern Wisconsin
• United Way in Waukesha County
• Waukesha County Chamber of Commerce
• Waukesha County Community Foundation
• Waukesha County Executive Office
• Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare
• Wisconsin Association for Perinatal Care
• Wisconsin Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics
• Wisconsin Council on Children and Families
• Wisconsin Nurses Association
Trained recruiters for the study are going door-to-door to 17 neighborhoods in Waukesha County, including Big Bend, Brookfield, Dousman, Hartland, Menomonee Falls, New Berlin, Oconomowoc, Pewaukee, Sussex and Waukesha looking for families who are eligible to participate in the study.
The National Children’s Study will examine the effects of environmental influences on the health and development of more than 100,000 children across the United States, following them from before birth until age 21. The study is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Within Waukesha County, the study is being conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and The Medical College of Wisconsin, in collaboration with the Children’s Service Society of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the National Opinion Research Center. The co-principal Investigators are Maureen Durkin, PhD, DrPH, at UW-Madison, and Christine Cronk, ScD, at the Medical College.
For more information about the National Children’s Study, visit www.nationalchildrensstudy.gov.