FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   Living in neighborhoods where residents have lower incomes and limited food access during pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of babies born small for gestational age or with lower birthweight, according to a new study from the NIH Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program. Previous studies have shown that maternal diet during pregnancy can impact the ...

Collaborative ECHO research led by Emily Oken, MD, MPH of Harvard Medical School and the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, and Kristen Lyall, ScD of Drexel University, investigates fish consumption and the use of omega-3 supplements among pregnant women. This research, titled “Demographic and health characteristics associated with fish and n-3 fatty acid supplement intake during pregnancy: results from pregnancy cohorts ...

Collaborative ECHO research led by Santiago Morales, PhD of the University of Southern California investigates the relationship between maternal education and children’s neurocognitive development over time. This research, titled “Maternal Education Prospectively Predicts Child Neurocognitive Function: An ECHO Study,” is published in Developmental Psychology. ECHO researchers wanted to examine the relationship between changes in a mother’s education over time and their ...

Collaborative ECHO research led by Rachel Kelly, PhD and Nicole Prince, PhD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and Donghai Liang, PhD, MPH of Emory University analyzes the relationship between small molecules in a mother’s blood during pregnancy and childhood BMI. This research, titled “Metabolomic Data Presents Challenges for Epidemiological Meta-Analysis: A Case Study of Childhood Body ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Children who lived in areas with higher levels of airborne lead in their first five years of life appeared to have slightly lower IQs and less self-control, with boys showing more sensitivity to lead exposure, according to a new study from the NIH Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program. Lead exposure, even at low levels, can affect ...

  Collaborative ECHO research led by Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP of NYU Langone Health investigates the potential connections between phthalates, their metabolites in the urine of pregnant individuals, and birth outcomes. This research, titled “Prenatal phthalate exposure and adverse birth outcomes in the USA: a prospective analysis of births and estimates of attributable burden and costs,” is published in The Lancet ...

Collaborative ECHO research led by Elena Jansen, PhD of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and Kristine Marceau, PhD of the College of Health and Human Sciences at Purdue University reviewed existing literature on what is known about a father’s role in child development, highlighting how a father’s history and personal characteristics can influence their child’s health and well-being. This research, ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE An NIH Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort study finds that certain organophosphate esters (OPEs) were linked to increased odds of preterm birth, especially in girls.  Pregnant individuals exposed to specific classes of flame-retardant chemicals known as organophosphate esters (OPEs) may face an increased risk of preterm birth, especially for baby girls, or higher birth weights ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Consistently breastfeeding infants in any amount during their first three months was associated with a lower risk of childhood obesity, regardless of the mother’s body mass index (BMI) before pregnancy, according to a new study funded by the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program at the National Institutes of Health. While previous studies have shown that breastfeeding ...

Collaborative ECHO research led by Jonathan Lewis, MHS, Emily Knapp, PhD, MHS, and Amii Kress, PhD, MPH of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health investigates the relationship between arsenic exposure and certain birth outcomes. This research, titled “Associations Between Area-Level Arsenic Exposure and Adverse Birth Outcomes: An ECHO-Wide Cohort Analysis,” is published in Environmental Research. Researchers captured proxy exposure to ...