A Big Final Thank You!

How quickly 2013 is moving!  Spring is upon us. This is sadly the final post from the Greater Chicago Study Center (GCSC). We would first like to say a final thank you to all of our participants, community members and partners, stakeholders, and hospitals contacts. As we had said in previous communications, the National Children’s Study is transitioning Study management to Regional Operations Centers (ROCs), and this transition happened here in Cook County in March 2013. The National Children’s Study (NCS) is the largest, long term study of children’s health ever conducted in the United States, and these changes are intended to use Study resources responsibly so that it can continue over the next 21 years. As the NCS embarks on this next phase, we would like to once again commend all those that have contributed to the success of the NCS here in Cook County. 

The Greater Chicago Study Center is finalizing work with the National Institutes of Health, other NCS institutions in the Central Region, and NORC at the University of Chicago to make sure transitions in 2013 are seamless for our participants and all of our community, and hospital contacts.

The GCSC has been managing the Study in Cook County since 2007.  Thanks to all of the support the GCSC received throughout the years, we ended a successful recruitment period for the Vanguard (pilot) phase. Since the end of recruitment in 2010, the Greater Chicago Study Center has been busy keeping in touch with current participants, communities, and hospitals.

As these changes occur the GCSC would like to say a special thank you to our families for staying the course and for your renewed commitment to this very important research effort. The contribution of Cook County families is recognized nationally and the National Children's Study will continue its stewardship by working with you and your family over the upcoming years.

If you have any questions about this transition or any other part of the National Children’s Study, please feel free to call 1-877-865-2619.

Heather Morrison at the Central ROC will be the primary contact for communities.  She can be reached at heather.morrison@norc.org.

Children Food Allergies and Holiday Treats in School

Holiday dishes and treats often contain nuts, milk and eggs — three of the top food allergy offenders — which can pose a threat to millions of children with food allergies. According to Dr. Ruchi Gupta, co-investigator of the Greater Chicago Study Center, there are almost two allergic children in every classroom in the United States. Therefore, it is important for schools and parents to be aware of food allergies this time of year, when many children exchange holiday treats  or participate in celebrations in school.

October is SIDS Awareness Month

National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month

The National Children's Study Greater Chicago Study Center supports National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month by encouraging Cook County families to take small steps to help each child to stay at a healthy weight.



Elissa Bassler, CEO of Illinois Public Health Institute (IPHI) and Executive Director of the Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity, discusses the importance of tackling the issue of childhood obesity, ways in which can parents help overweight or obese children and the role of beverages in the obesity epidemic.



CLOCC's 5-4-3-2-1 Go! message contains recommendations for children (2 and older) and families to promote a healthy lifestyle: 

• 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day
• 4 servings of water a day 
• 3 servings of low-fat dairy a day 
• 2 or less hours of screen time a day 
• 1 or more hours of physical activity a day 

Visit the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC) tor more information.

National Immunization Awareness Month

Dr. Rachel Caskey, MD, MaPP, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and General Internal Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago and co-investigator at the National Children's Study Greater Chicago Study Center, answers common questions that parents may have about vaccines.

August is National Immunization Awareness Month

July is National Cord Blood Awareness Month

Dr. Ann Borders MD MSC, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern University and co-investigator at the National Children's Study Greater Chicago Study Center, answers common questions that parents may have about cord blood banking.

Our Number One Priority: Study Participants

During the course of our interviews with people who live and work across Cook County, we asked women if they would consider participating in the National Children’s Study (NCS). All of the women with whom we spoke overwhelmingly said “yes” to volunteering for the NCS.  In this week’s post, you can see a sample of those responses:



Regardless of where they are in life (some of them are mothers, some do not have children, others are planning to have children), women throughout the region always ask, what does participation in the NCS entail?

During active recruitment, our main message to women who enrolled in the NCS was that they would be part of a pioneering group of women who would join a national effort to ultimately improve children’s health. We are very thankful to all of our participants who answered the call and continue to be involved in Study activities. All of us should be very proud of our participants because their contribution is invaluable to future generations. Besides the real possibility of helping improve children’s health, our participants joined the NCS because:

1.    They only have to give the Study a small amount of their time.
Participation occurs through periodic visits and phone calls with National Children’s Study staff before and during pregnancy, and as their children grow. Our colleagues at the Cumberland County Maine Study Center have written a series of blog posts detailing what happens at each study visit. Take a look here.

2.    The NCS does not interfere with their life.
The National Children’s Study is not a substitute for regular doctor visits for our moms or their children. Participants won’t be asked to take any medications or treatments.

3.    Participants can decide what information to share.
If they are ever uncomfortable answering a question or participating in any part of a Study visit, they can opt out. If life is too busy, they can take a break and rejoin the Study when it better fits their schedule.

4.    Participants can move to a new home or out of Cook County and still be a part of the Study.
Study participants needed to live in one of several randomly chosen communities in Cook County only when they enrolled. If they move out of town or across the country, they can still be involved in the NCS.

5.    They are part of a ground-breaking study.
As we discussed in last week’s post, no other study has looked at how a wide range of environmental exposures impact children’s health beginning with pregnancy over the long-term. Previous adult studies did not consider whether environmental factors might have a different impact on children.

6.    They receive a small amount of money for their time. 
We recognize the commitment participants are making to improve the health and well-being of children. We are providing compensation and thank-you gifts for participating in the Study.

7.    Participants can change the world!
Doctors, scientists, health agencies and community organizations that work with children could ultimately use information from the Study to improve how we prevent and treat children’s health problems. We can’t stress enough that participation in the National Children’s Study will make a difference for generations to come.

May 14 - 18, 2012 is Food Allergy Awareness Week!

In observance of Food Allergy Awareness Week, the National Children’s Study Greater Chicago Study Center included a short Food Allergy Awareness Quiz in our monthly newsletter.

Here's where you can find the answers:

1. Food allergies can be cured with allergy shots.

False: There is no cure for food allergies. Avoiding the food is the only way to prevent an allergic reaction.



2. Milk is a common food allergen.

True: Milk is a common allergen. People who are allergic to milk must avoid cheese (pizza), ice cream, butter, yogurt, and all other foods that contain milk.


3. It’s okay to test if a food is safe by licking it or taking a tiny bite.

False: Even a tiny lick or bite of a food can cause a reaction. People with a food allergy must read the ingredient statement before eating a food.


4. If a person is having an allergic reaction you should not let them go off alone.

True: Sometimes symptoms start out mild, and the person might think it’s okay to go off alone. But, things can quickly get worse, so stick with them in case your help is needed.

For more information about food allergies, please visit the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN).

April is Autism Awareness Month

Molly Losh, Ph.D., Jane and Michael Hoffman Assistant Professor from Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Northwestern University discusses the importance of early screening and early intervention for parents who are worried about their child’s development.

Dr. Losh’s research focuses on delineating the nature and basis of language impairment in autism and related neurobiological disorders. Her studies adopt clinical-behavioral and family-genetic methods and designs to characterize patterns of language strengths and weaknesses that define particular disorders, and examine ties to neuropsychological and genetic underpinnings.

For our National Autism Awareness Month feature, she takes on the following questions: How does a child's autism diagnosis affect a family? Should parents consider complementary and alternative therapies for their autistic child? Is there a true rise in the incidence of autism in the US? and she offers some helpful suggestions.

CPD Blog - Cache Valley National Children’s Study expands data collection - CPD

From our friends at Cache County Study Center:

CPD Blog - Cache Valley National Children's Study expands data collection - CPD

Suggestion Box

As President Obama said on his Thanksgiving address last week, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday “eating great food, watching a little football, and reflecting on how truly lucky we are.”

Here at the National Children’s Study, we are thankful for the opportunity to contribute to such a significant undertaking as improving the health of all children. We would be unable to do that if we did not have the support of our amazing community partners, who week by week over the past twelve months continue displaying our posters and brochures at their locations, inviting us to community events, and referring people to call our number if they are interested in participating.

As our VideoVoice project is coming to an end, we asked our neighborhood ambassadors for their thoughts and suggestions as the National Children’s Study moves forward in Cook County. Here is what Maria had to say:

“Some of the things that I can recommend are basically the same things that people recommended me or the same concerns they had about it. Among them is the expansion of the selected communities, perhaps to include more communities in order to admit a larger number of children.

Perhaps, contemplate the possibility of having women who become pregnant prior to eighteen years of age because that is a reality in our community. There are many pregnant women under eighteen, [whom] regrettably could be left out of this program having the opportunity to study the effects precisely which that premature pregnancy could have on the baby throughout his life.

Another would be to emphasize more our program through television, radio, mass media, utilize the media so that people know about us even more. Those are the main things that I would suggest the Study.

Of course, to continue working, to persist bringing information to the families. Perhaps one more thing that could work quite well is to bring specific information about topics of interest to our community. For example, health topics, mental health topics… In our Latino community, one of the main concerns is how the environment affects the emotional health of its inhabitants.”

Progress in the Field

As we continue our work in the community, attending events throughout Cook County, making presentations, talking to mothers and fathers interested in participating in the Study, we have been learning a great deal about what people’s concerns are in terms of the health of their community and what they want for their children.

Some parents have told us they are worried about living in proximity to a power plant and how that might affect their children’s health. One dad wanted to know if his son might have to stay behind in school like he did when he grew up. A community leader is concerned about lead poisoning as his community is mostly made up of older homes. An elected official talked about households using well water and not knowing how often they check the water quality. Others have mentioned the lack of resources in their community including access to parks and safe places for children to play.

Our VideoVoice project is a chance for people to go “on the record” expressing those concerns and giving feedback to the Study. Our neighborhood ambassadors have been asking local parents, community leaders, healthcare providers and others to participate in interviews, and the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. Over the next several weeks, we will be producing a number of community videos which reflect the attitudes of people in our community about the National Children's Study. We will be sharing those videos through here and other means. In the meantime, two of our neighborhood ambassadors share their experiences working to promote the Study in the Latino community:

What have you learned from your first interviews?

"Working with people, doing the interviews has been very good because I have come to find out, in the first case, that the same experiences people have had are the same most of us have had. We are not really as different as we may seem, and our concerns remain mostly the same. We all want the well-being of our children; we want the well-being of our community and ourselves."

How do you think people in your community will respond to the NCS?

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