What it is about:It aims to find out how children develop over time, what factors affect a child's development, what makes for a healthy and happy childhood and what children think of their own lives, and to help in the formation of policies and services for children.
How it will work:It will take place over seven years and will follow the progress of two groups of children: nine-year-olds and infants.
Nine-year-olds:A representative sample of 750 national schools has been selected. In the coming weeks 8,000 nine-year-olds will be randomly selected. These children and their parents will be invited to participate in the study over the coming weeks and, once again, in 2011.
Children will be asked about:
Their school and home day-to-day life.
Activities and sports they enjoy.
Foods they like to eat.
Views on their community.
Parents will be asked about:
Their child's health and education.
Their child's overall social and emotional development.
Their own health.
Family and life experiences as a parent.
Infants: Some 10,000 nine-month-old infants will be selected randomly using the child benefit register maintained by the Department of Social and Family Affairs.
Parents will be asked about their child's health, social and emotional development, their own health, and family and life experiences as a parent. As with nine-year-olds, childminders will also be asked to participate in the study if they care for the infant for more than 12 hours a week.
For further information:visit www.growingup.ie or telephone 1800 200 434.