Mothers and Children's Health and Environment (MOCHE)

Prologue

Welcome to Mother and Children’s Health and Environment
It cannot be too emphasized that environment and health of our children from birth to adolescence need continuous care for the sustainable society.

Why was our community chosen for the Study?

Children's disease and developmental disorder potentially associated with environmental exposures, such as allergy, asthma, atopic dermatitis, and neurobehavioral disorder, etc., are great matters of concern of public health in the world including Korea. We are to evaluate environmental risk factors (chemical, biological, physical, and psychosocial) for susceptible groups including for mothers and infants, and to provide information to improve the health, development, and well- being of children in the future.

Who will participate in the Study?

Between 2005 and 2010, Mother and children's health and Environment study will begin recruiting women and their husband who visit the hospital during the early period of pregnancy.

Families who join the study will come from three local in korea. Each local center is in a different environment. Seoul is selected for a study area due to overpopulation, heavy traffic volumes, serious air pollution and too many apartments. And Ulsan, the largest industrial complex city in Korea, has various kinds of industries such as shipbuilders, car manufacturers, and petrochemical factories. Cheonan Asan which considered as a control of the study is chosen to investigate the effects of environmental exposures on children's health.

How will the Study be conducted?

MOCHE study teams being composed of a coordinating center, three local centers being charged with recruiting pregnant women and four characteristic centers such as a nutrition center, a biobank center, a neurocognitive developmental center, a indoor environment assessment center observe 1500 children from before their birth.

Each local center recruitS pregnant women who visit hospital, keeps in close touch with the participants from before birth to after birth and let the participants have an examination at the corresponding gestational age.

Each local center will collect samples including blood and urine, and handout questionnaires to get information about health, environment and activities of each pregnant woman and her husband.

Also these centers will collect samples including blood, placenta, urine, breast milk and handout questionnaires to get information about the health, environment of newborn babies.

Participants do not have to take medicines or get any medical treatment. All information collected for the study will be confidential. tablishment of national policy on health of pregnant women and children.

What makes this study different from other Korea health studies?

Mother and children's health and Environment study [MOCHE] has a number of features that make it unique:

The study is national in scope- MOCHE is one birth cohort study in Korea. MOCHE Study includes pregnant women ,their husband and their newborn babies from three local centers where are in a different environment.
The study takes a broad approach to "environment"-This study includes the wide range of biological, physical, genetic and other factors comprising a mother and newborn babies' environment that can affect health and development.
Results will be made public as the study progresses- Academic research on the hypothesis that environment at the time of gestation period affects the development of disease during the adulthood. Selection of target environmental diseases of children and development of environment health index .Establishment of national policy on the health of pregnant women and children.