University of Michigan will get $22.5 million for role in massive study that seeks causes of asthma, autism, other child health concerns

Overall, the study will take an in-depth look at the environmental, social and other factors that influence a child’s health before, during and after birth, said Nigel Paneth, a Michigan State University pediatrician and perinatal epidemiologist who is leading the statewide effort.

The hope is that the study will shed new light on how a child’s “environmental matrix” - the mix of factors like water, air, sound, family dynamics, community, and cultural influences — relate to issues like infant mortality, premature birth, obesity, autism, asthma, mental retardation, behavioral problems and other conditions, he said. “Most of these conditions are still huge mysteries.”

And they’re costly, he added.

Caring for a baby born weighing only 2 pounds is three times as costly as performing three heart transplants, Paneth said. “That kid is going to be in the hospital for 90 days. In the hundreds of thousands of dollars per case.”

There is a high risk of developmental disabilities for premature babies, he said, and premature births are more common among the poor and more common in blacks.

“We don’t know why,” he said. “It’s one of the biggest puzzles in children’s health, and it’s a huge burden of expense, and I haven’t even mentioned the human toll, the suffering of the parents who have a child in intensive care.”

The study analysis will hone in on differences between groups of people from across the country. It will look at factors like health-care access, disease occurrence and other issues in order to address these disparities, according to The National Children’s Study’s website.

Dan Keating, a U-M professor of psychology, is heading the ISR’s efforts. This week, the ISR launched the effort to recruit and enroll women who are pregnant or are thinking of becoming pregnant in Wayne county, he said. Enrollment in Grand Traverse, Lenawee, Genesse and Macomb counties will follow. Enrollment is expected to take about four years, he said.

The ISR will retain a copy of data collected in Michigan over the years and send it to a central site, Keating said. ISR is also providing secure laptops that can only be used to collect data for the study across the state.

Paneth and others created an entity called the Michigan Alliance for the National Children’s Study to execute the years-long undertaking. Members of the alliance include MSU, U-M and Wayne State University, the Henry Ford Health System, the Michigan Department of community Health and local health departments in the study areas.

Congress created The National Children’s Study with the Children’s Health Act of 2000. Overall, the study has been launched in 37 of 105 locations across the United States.

Those locations were selected to ensure a diverse sample of ethnic, racial, economic, religious, geographic and social groups were represented, according to The National Children’s Study website.

According to Paneth, knowledge gained will offset costs by deepening understanding of the conditions known to take a toll worth billions in healthcare costs each year.

Juliana Keeping is a health and environment reporter for AnnArbor.com. Contact her at julianakeeping@annarbor.com.