Strong Children's Research Center

News from the SCDS, Spring 2008

Phase I (examination of cohort at age 16 years) Completed. The first phase of the Adolescent Study is complete. An extensive battery of tests was administered including assessments of their cognitive ability (emphasizing executive functioning), school performance and achievement, and social behaviors. The data have all been transported to Rochester where data analyses have begun. Results are expected to be available by early 2009.

Phase II (examination of cohort at age 19 years) Beginning. An extensive battery of tests are planned including assessing their cognitive and social behaviors as well as their ability to process auditory information and their autonomic heart functioning.

Educational Achievement Study Underway. A supplemental project is underway to evaluate the origins of success in school amongst Main Cohort subjects. School performance measures including year end grades, National Examination scores, International Certificate of General Secondary Education (ICGSE) examination scores, and Southern African Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SAQMEC) scores have been linked to the SCDS database that contains data on the subjects basic ability dating to early in life. These data are presently being correlated. The project is about halfway to completion. The Ministry of Education is collaborating with us on this project and hopes to use the results to assist with future curriculum design.

A number of articles describing our findings on the evaluations of this cohort through 30 months of age have been published or are in press (see bibliography).

Evaluations at age 5 years are just being completed. This phase of the nutrition study was funded by the European Union under PHIME (Public Health Impact of Long Term Low Level Mixed Element Exposure in Susceptible Population Strata). PHIME is an umbrella project of mainly European researchers, but also includes the University of Ulster, the Ministry of Health in Seychelles, and the University of Rochester.

The examinations through 30 months found that maternal serum concentration of Long Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (LCPUFA) may counterbalance adverse effects of prenatal exposure to MeHg. Future studies will seek to confirm this finding. For more information, see our recent publications (Publications link).

Dental Study involves the First Nutrition Cohort and aims to determine the impact of dental amalgams on child development. We have determined their prenatal exposure to inorganic mercury based on the maternal amalgam status during pregnancy and have begun to examine the cohort children for postnatal exposure to inorganic Hg vapor from placement of dental amalgam fillings. We anticipate another evaluation of this cohort at age 7 years.

The Ministry of Health is currently recruiting pregnant women, with a plan for an eventual cohort of 1,200 mother-child pairs, to pursue the aims of the SCDS. The Seychelles authorities are interested in establishing a firm scientific basis for the determination of public health action on the issue of exposure to methyl mercury from fish consumption. On one hand fish is an important part of the Seychellois diet and a vital source of nutrients and health benefits, and on the other, any potential threat to children’s development is of great concern. The Government will continue to support research that examines the impact of mercury exposure and the nutritional factors that influence child development and that, in addition, may modify the impact of mercury. It is hoped that the study will support an evidence-based evaluation of the risks and benefits of the predominantly fish-based Seychellois diet, which will have implications for public health not only in Seychelles, but throughout the world where fish is consumed.