Raising healthy kids

Posted: April 20, 2009

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There's nothing a parent wouldn't do to ensure their child's health. Eat right, exercise, regular doctor visits, read supporting literature … but what about diseases or problems that aren't as easily prevented? What happens when their child's health is in jeopardy and there's no evidence of what went wrong?

Missy Kueht-Becker deals with these situations regularly. Kueht-Becker manages Lutheran Social Services' Birth to Three program, which provides therapy, support and eduction for children with developmental disabilities and other special needs.

"Nobody plans to have a child with a disability, and I think it's a huge guilt on parents that don't know if it's something they did or something they didn't know about," she said.

"That's a very heavy burden they carry, and we want to prevent or address these things," Kueht-Becker said, which is why she is member of an advisory board for the National Children's Study. Through the study, researchers hope to find associations with problems such as asthma, obesity, autism, birth defects, diabetes, behavior, learning and mental health disorders.

According to the study's Web site, nationalchildrensstudy.gov, the study is the largest long-term study of children's health ever conducted in the United States. It will look at the effects of the environment on the health and development of more than 100,000 children nationwide.

One hundred and five study locations were selected, using a probability-based sampling method to ensure all ethnic, racial, economic, religious, geographic and social groups are represented. About 1,250 children will be from Waukesha County.

Researchers will recruit pregnant women or women who plan to become pregnant in the next five years. They will recruit subjects in the next few months who live in Big Bend, Brookfield, Dousman, Hartland, Menomonee Falls, New Berlin, Oconomowoc, Pewaukee, Sussex and Waukesha.

According to the site, families who enroll will participate in a minimum of 15 in-person visits with a local research team, beginning in the mother's first trimester of pregnancy or earlier, and through 21 years of age. By tracking development through infancy, childhood and early adulthood, the study hopes to determine the root causes of many childhood and adult diseases. Some visits will be in the participant's home and some will be in clinical settings, including where the child was delivered.

"What this study does is give associations for followup," said Dr. David Fay, medical director of Waukesha Family Practice. "This is the first time we have done something on this scale with kids, and it not only allows us to look at exposure but do it in a more scientifically robust fashion." Fay said many studies are conducted retrospectively, which often makes the information hard to get. "Memories are faulty, the place where you would find the info is no longer valid or there," Fay said.

He likens the outcome of this study to the Framingham Heart Study that recruited 5,209 men and women between 30 and 62 from Framingham, Mass., in 1948, to analyze common patterns related to cardiovascular disease. Fay said before Framingham, no one really knew heart disease had anything to do with cholesterol levels.

"There's no question that this is a very large undertaking," Fay said of the National Children's Study, "but there is also no question there will be changes in medicine because of it."

Waukesha community liaison Katie Miller said the local group has taken a grassroots approach to spread the word about the upcoming effort because before someone knocks on their door, it's likely most families won't know about the National Children's Study.

"We explain the study to help build credibility and clarify you have to live in one of the selected neighborhoods to participate," Miller said.

She said the general reaction is that people are excited and eager to be involved. Miller said using playgroups, church groups and local businesses has been key. "Every single person has a connection to a child with these illnesses," Miller said.

Summit resident Mary Tylicki has a 2-year-old son and is nearly 29 weeks into her second pregnancy. She meets with the Moms & Tots Playgroup, a sub club in Oconomowoc Newcomers & Neighbors Club that she said are in the study's spectrum. Tylicki said they frequently discuss concerns about vaccinations and whether they lead to autism.

Tylicki said she thinks things like childhood obesity are strictly lifestyle choices. "If you're putting your child in front of a TV for hours on end and don't let them develop … but I think it's an epidemic because people are too busy and they're not getting enough time to make a nice dinner and are going in eight different directions not able to focus on the basic things of life," Tylicki said.

The National Children's Study will be able to track these things. Researchers will take note of eating habits, exercise and social environments. And hopefully the research will be able to address something else:.

"The generations now that are being born are the first generations that won't outlive their parents. The average length of life is longer than the previous generations" because of medical advances, she said. "But because of poor lifestyle, our kids are going to be dying at a much younger rate, and we are going to see gross expenses in health care."

Kueht-Becker said her program served more than 800 families last year with a wide range delays or disabilities. "If there is something in the environment, we want to prevent it," she said.

She said serving on the advisory board she wears two hats – one as a mother and one as messenger to spread the word about the study. She gives input on how to better serve study participants to make the process as natural as it can be.

"To me, as a provider, that is very important because I know those with a disability feel like they become a number. That's not where we want to go; you are a person affecting the future," she said of participants' role.

"And there's always a natural curiosity of what makes life tick," she added.

→ The National Children's Study will examine important health issues to establish links between children's environments and their health, including:

• Birth defects and pregnancy-related problems

• Injuries

• Asthma

• Obesity

• Diabetes

• Behavior, learning and mental health disorders

On the Web

To learn more about the National Children's Study, visit its Web site, nationalchildrensstudy.gov.