Development

The association between nutrition in early life and its long-term health consequences has long been known. However, there is a scarcity of scientific evidence on how nutritional status affects child growth and development in remote, rural agro-pastoral communities with distinct dietary intake habits, geographical location, socio-economic status, and cultures.

TARGet Kids! (The Applied Research Group for Kids) is a research study enrolling healthy children aged 0-5 years. The aim of the TARGet Kids! registry is to link early life exposures to health problems including obesity, micronutrient deficiencies, and developmental problems. TARGet Kids! represents an innovative collaboration between child health researchers and children's primary care doctors (pediatricians and family physicians) to promote research that really matters and create solutions to some of the today's biggest health concerns. The results of this collaborative research study are not only improving the quality of children's healthcare but also the health of children across the country. Coordinated by Sick Kids and St. Michael's Hospital with data management services by the Applied Health Research Centre (AHRC), TARGet Kids! is the only primary care research network for children in Canada.