We have started to follow-up with individuals who have participated in the OBS to see how their children are doing. This helps us study what influences child development, particularly factors during pregnancy and in the neonatal period. Our long term goal is to find ways to help children reach their maximum potential. The study team is contacting OBS participants (only if they agreed to be contacted about future research) when their OBS children reach the following ages: 8 months, 24 months, 36 months, and 4.5 years. For those who are willing to participate, we will do a telephone interview with parents of children who are 8 months or 36 months old. At 24 months and 4.5 years we will arrange a study visit to do some assessments of the child’s development. This extension of the OBS will help us meet our goal of learning more about the early life origins of later life health, learning, and social functioning.
8 months: We will do a phone interview about your child’s health and sleep, breastfeeding, childcare arrangements, and some questions about you and the child’s father. It will take about 15 minutes.
24 months: We will arrange a visit at your home. At this visit we will ask you some questions about your child, measure your child’s height and weight, and give you and your child a simple task to do together (matching colours and shapes on a peg board). If you agree, we will take a small sample of saliva from your child. The visit will take about one hour.
36 months: We will do another phone interview of about 15-30 minutes.
4.5 years: We will do a home visit and ask your child to play some games using a study iPad (for example, matching shapes and colours). We will ask you some questions about your child’s mood and behavior and measure your child’s height and weight. If you agree, we will take a saliva sample from your child if we do not have one. The visit will take about one hour.
Table of OBS Kids assessment by age
| 8 months old | 24 months old | 36 months old | 4.5 years old | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brief phone interview | X | X | ||
| Growth measurement | X | X | ||
| Saliva sample collection | X | X | ||
| Developmental milestones | X | |||
| Parental interaction | X | |||
| iPad activity for cognitive assessment | X |
OBS Kids Study Team
Rayjean Hung, Ph.D., Lead Investigator
Julia Knight, Ph.D., Lead Investigator
Jenny Jenkins, Ph.D., Co-Investigator
Robert Levitan, MD, Co-Investigator
Steve Lye Ph.D., Co-Investigator
Kellie Murphy, M.D., Co-Investigator
Jody Wong, B.Sc., Study Coordinator
Nadya Adel Khani, B.A., Research Assistant
Harmoni Watson, B.Sc., Research Assistant
If you have any questions about OBS Kids or would like to know more, please contact the study team at OBSKids@lunenfeld.
Photo of the assessment
Artwork from OBS children
