Effect Of Diet and Other Early Exposures on Child Health

Environmental Health Sciences

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Abstract

Diet and other early exposures may affect child development and the risk of several chronic diseases, but additional research is needed. The current research described in this "catch-all" project comprises two subprojects: first, a study of effects due to exposures incurred secondary to dental procedures and treatments during pregnancy, and second, a group of inter-related studies all having to do with hormone levels in women during pregnancy in relation to factors such as race and cryptorchidism in offspring, which are risk factors for testicular germ cell tumors. The study of effects due to exposures incurred secondary to dental procedures and treatments during pregnancy is based on data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Data on dental history were available for 8,251 women and the outcomes examined were birth weight, preterm birth, and child's communicative development. Regarding the studies of hormone levels during pregnancy, these were all nested in the Collaborative Perinatal Project (CPP--see description under project ES049016). Stored serum from pregnant women was analyzed for hormone levels and examined in relation to subject characteristics. Last year's progress: A manuscript describing the dental study was prepared and will be submitted to a journal shortly. Two papers on hormone levels in pregnancy were published, and one was submitted to a journal.