Nutrition in Early Life and Asthma

Aim

The main aim of this study is to investigate the role of the nutrition during pregnancy and childhood in the origin  of asthma.

Design

NELA is a population-based prospective birth cohort study set up in Murcia (Spain)

Recruitment: The recruitment starts at 20weeks of gestation in the Virgen de la Arrixaca University Hospital (Murcia). The inclusion criteria of the mothers are:

• Women of Spanish origin
• To belong to the study area
• Women aged between 18 and 45 years
• Plan to  to live in Murcia at least the next two years
• Plan to  to give birth at the reference hospital
• Healthy women (women with asthma or allergies are not excluded)
• Not to have followed any program of assisted reproduction (FIV techniques are excluded)
• Single pregnancy (Multiple pregnancies are excluded)
• No major fetal malformations
• Not to have communication problems

Recruitment. The recruitment period begun in March 2015 and is planned to continue until 2018.

Follow-up. Face to face follow-ups are planned at  32th weeks of pregnancy, childbirth, 3 moths,  18 months and at 4 and 7 years of age.

Data collection. The information is  collected through  questionnaires administrated by trained interviewers, clinical registers, clinical examinations, and biological samples (blood, placenta, urine, exudates, breast milk and hair)

Organization

Director: Luis García-Marcos

Executive Commitee:

• Luis García-Marcos
• Carmen Ballesteros
• Juan Cabezas
• Elvira Larqué
• Eva Morales
• María Teresa Prieto

Funding

• Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad
• Instituto Murciano de Investigación Biosanitaria (IMIB)
• Servicio Murciano de Salud
• Universidad de Murcia

External Collaborations:

• GENEIDA birth cohort
• The INMA Project
• Birthcohort.net (www.birthcohort.net)