"How healthy are our children and young people?" With this question, the Robert Koch Institute is continuing the nationwide KiGGS study from 2009 to 2012. As in 2005, Rüdersdorf is once again one of the 167 study locations. The health data will be collected by telephone from 15 August to 3 September 2011. All former study participants will shortly receive a written invitation to take part in the survey. In addition, children up to the age of 6 will be randomly selected and their parents invited to take part in the survey.
With the survey, which is designed as a long-term study, the Robert Koch Institute intends to once again collect information on health status and health behaviour, well-being and the influence of social factors in order to be able to draw an up-to-date picture of the health situation of 0 to 17-year-olds in Germany. The aim is also to determine the extent to which the health situation has changed since the last study. By repeatedly including former participants, who are now between 6 and 24 years old, the researchers also hope to gain insights into the life phase transitions from childhood to adolescence and from adolescence to adulthood, as well as the causes and conditions of health changes.
Both the parents and the children themselves (aged 11-17) are interviewed. In addition, interviews are conducted with former study participants who are now adults. The telephone interviews will be conducted by trained interviewers from the Robert Koch Institute. Physical medical examinations are not planned this time. The survey will be supplemented by two additional studies. Sub-samples will be used to investigate questions on motor development and mental health in greater depth.
In order to adequately reflect the health situation of this large population group, the participation of children of non-German origin is also important. Parents who cannot or do not wish to conduct a telephone interview in German are therefore offered a translated questionnaire for written answers.
As there is no need to travel to a research centre this time and the interviews do not take longer than 30 minutes on average, the organisers are hoping for a similarly high number of participants as in the first KiGGS study. Back then, a total of 17,641 girls and boys and their parents visited a Robert Koch Institute examination centre during the three years of the study (2003-2006). This corresponds to a participation rate of 66.6 per cent. The results of the first round of the study show that it is worth taking a close look at the health of children and adolescents: KiGGS has shown, for example, that children in socially disadvantaged circumstances are exposed to significantly greater health risks. Further results can be viewed at www.kiggs.de. The study results form the basis for strategies to improve child health in Germany.
Picture & Text: © Robert Koch Institute