The largest-ever study on child development in Ireland is due to get under way in the coming weeks by following the progress of 18,000 children over the next seven years.
Growing Up in Ireland, a €24 million Government-funded study, aims to understand the main factors affecting children's development and wellbeing.
The results are likely to provide the basis for more effective policies and services in areas such as education and healthcare in the future.
Minister for Children Brian Lenihan, who officially launched the study yesterday, said: "We hope to obtain information which will ultimately improve the lives of children. Other countries have invested substantial resources in these broad national studies and discovered important information about children's lives."
International research of this kind in other countries has provided statistical evidence for the benefits of pre-school education on the development of children; the effects of childcare on children; risk factors for cot death; and the most effective techniques for education of children with special needs.
As it is a longitudinal study, it will examine the progress and wellbeing of children by revisiting them at a number of important periods in their childhood.
The first phase of the study will begin shortly by following the development of two groups of children: 8,000 nine-year-olds who will be revisited at 13 years of age, and 10,000 nine-month-olds who will be revisited at three years of age. They will be selected randomly through the national school system and child benefit system.
The study is being conducted by a group of researchers led by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and Trinity College Dublin.
Prof James Williams of the ESRI, a co-director of the research, said the study was the most significant of its kind ever undertaken in the country.
"This study has the potential to shape the lives of children for years to come and, most importantly, will allow us to establish what is typical and normal in the world of a child, as well as what is atypical and problematic."
Prof Sheila Greene, of the Children's Research Centre at TCD and a co-director of the study, said it had the potential to make real and lasting changes in the lives of children and families in Ireland. She urged parents and schools to participate.
"The study participants, including children, their parents and schools, are our most precious resource and this is a unique opportunity for them to take part in something very special."
By following children over time, she said researchers hoped to find out the individual, family and broader social and environmental factors that affect children's development.
Children aged nine will be asked questions about their school and day-to-day life; activities and sport; food they like; and views of their community.
Parents and teachers will also be asked to answer a questionnaire. Where a child is cared for by a childminder or relative for more than 12 hours a week, this person will be asked to participate in the study.
All information will be treated as confidential. All study researchers are being vetted by the Garda and will carry photo IDs.
