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Child DevelopmentNCT02550236

LIFE Child (LIFE Leipzig Research Centre for Civilization Diseases)

An observational study of Child Development, run by University of Leipzig at 1 site in Germany.

Recruiting

Looking for participants now. Contact the study team or a site below to ask about taking part.

Sites and contacts
Official record
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Trial summary

The Leipzig Research Centre for Civilization Diseases (LIFE) Child Study is a prospective longitudinal population-based study with a life course approach to health and disease. The LIFE Child Study focuses on two main research objectives: What are premises of normal growth, development and health in children? Which… Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 0 to 20 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for
Child Development
How many people
7,000 participants
Where
1 siteGermany
Study dates
Oct 2010to Dec 2026
Phase
Observational
Are there results?
Not yet: the study is under way

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 0 to 20 years
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Child, Adult

Study population: The LIFE Child study is a prospective longitudinal population-based cohort study. All children with their families and pregnant women of the area of Leipzig are eligible to participate in the LIFE Child study. This sample is supposed to represent the population of the city.

Who may be able to join

  • children with their families and pregnant women of the area of Leipzig

Who cannot join

  • severe diseases

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.

Antje Körner, Prof., MD contact

antje.koerner@medizin.uni-leipzig.de

Germany1 site, 1 recruiting
  • LIFE Leipzig Research Centre for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig

    Leipzig, Saxony, 04103

    Antje Körner, Prof. MD, antje.koerner@medizin.uni-leipzig.de

    LIFE Child, lifechild@medizin.uni-leipzig.de

    Recruiting

Other trials in Germany

About this study

Official title: Prospective Population-based Childhood Cohort Study in the Leipzig Area Investigating Genetic, Environmental, and Metabolic Factors and Their Association With the Development of Civilization Diseases

The Leipzig Research Centre for Civilization Diseases (LIFE) Child Study is a prospective longitudinal population-based study with a life course approach to health and disease.

The LIFE Child Study focuses on two main research objectives:

  • What are premises of normal growth, development and health in children?
  • Which factors contribute to the development of non-communicable diseases such as childhood obesity and its co-morbidities, atopy and mental health problems?

Detailed assessments will be conducted alongside long-term storage of biological samples in 1,000 pregnant women and more than 5,000 children and their families.

Read the detailed description
  • The LIFE Child study is part of LIFE, a life sciences research program of the University of Leipzig (Leipzig Research Centre for Civilization Diseases - LIFE). The measurements are performed in a well-equipped research centre located on the premises of the University Hospital of Leipzig.
  • The study collects detailed information from clinical examinations, questionnaires and interviews and includes a collection of several types of biological materials at various time points (urine, stool, hair, blood for direct analyses, genomic DNA, dried blood spots, paxgenes (for RNA isolation and expression/eQTL studies). Children and adolescents from 0 to 20 years at baseline and their families are included. Participants are followed annually over a period of several years irrespective of the age at the first participation in the study until they reach the age of 20.
  • Prenatal examinations are conducted in the 24th and 36th week of gestation and postnatal examinations in the 3rd, 6th and 12th month in the offspring. The birth cohort study collects detailed information from clinical examinations, questionnaires and interviews and biological materials (blood, cord blood, placental tissue, breast milk, hair, urine and stool)
  • In addition, the LIFE Child study focuses in the disease cohort LIFE Child OBESITY and disease free controls in more detail. The aim of these subgroups is to examine aetiological associations and comorbidities with more in-depth methods.
Keywords
Children, Pregnancy, Growth, Lifestyle, Metabolic and cardiovascular health, Birth, Development, Reference Values

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

Study groups in NCT02550236
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
LIFE Child HealthThe LIFE Child HEALTH cohort is a sample of over 5.000 children and adolescents. A basic program that will be carried out annually at each study centre visit. This program includes clinical history (perinatal and past medical history, medications, allergies, immunizations, developmental history and family history) clinical examination, collection of blood, hair, stool and urine samples, anthropometry and different age-dependent questionnaires. Questionnaires are completed by the parents and starting at the age of ten years also by the child itself.
LIFE Child ObesityThe LIFE Child OBESITY cohort is a sample of 500 obese children and adolescents that will be assessed and compared to a lean control group (N=500) with equally detailed phenotyping including metabolic and cardiovascular evaluation. The LIFE Child OBESITY cohort (including the control group) performs the basic program of the LIFE Child HEALTH cohort plus additional parameters such as electrical bioimpedance, assessment of basal metabolic rate, oral glucose tolerance test, liver elastography and spirometry.
LIFE Child Health: Pregnancy/BirthThe LIFE child Pregnancy/Birth cohort is a sample of over 1,200 pregnant women and their offspring. Prenatal examinations are conducted during the 24th to 26th and 34th to 36th week of gestation. During the first year of life, data is collected from children at 3, 6 and 12 month of age.

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Civilization diseases and their risk factors

    Assess lifestyle, metabolic and genetic risk factors of civilization diseases (e.g. diabetes mellitus, obesity, allergy, cardiovascular diseases) from fetal life to adulthood.

    Measured: 20 years

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted15 Sep 2015 (estimated)
  2. Study startOct 2010
  3. Primary completionDec 2026 (estimated)
  4. Study completionDec 2026 (estimated)

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Observational
Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrolment
7,000 participants (estimated)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT02550236
Sponsor's protocol ID
LIFE Child Leipzig
Status last verified
Feb 2024
First submitted
15 Dec 2014
Last updated
4 Mar 2024
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No

Publications

  • Neininger MP, Bremer SUJ, Dathan-Stumpf A, Stepan H, Kiess W, Bertsche A, Vogel M, Bertsche T. High prevalence of magnesium supplementation during pregnancy: results from the LIFE Child study. Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2026 Aug 31;313(1):261. doi: 10.1007/s00404-026-08522-z.

    PubMed 42675291
  • Allner IE, Kiess W, Kratzsch J, Vogel M. Growth parameters and IGF-1 axis biomarkers differ among omnivorous, vegetarian, and vegan children. Eur J Nutr. 2026 Aug 29;65(6):245. doi: 10.1007/s00394-026-04085-6.

    PubMed 42667434
  • Trenkmann L, Ziegelasch N, Dittrich K, Willenberg A, Kiess W, Vogel M. Examining commonly used equations for estimating the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in a healthy cohort of children and adolescents. BMC Nephrol. 2026 Jul 25;27(1):446. doi: 10.1186/s12882-026-05219-y.

    PubMed 42509536
  • Stasche HIU, Georgi GM, Korner A, Kiess W, Biemann R, Turp JC, Hirsch C. Oral Contraceptive Use Is Associated With Increased Tenderness to Palpation in the Masticatory System in Female Adolescents-Results of the Epidemiological LIFE Child Study. J Oral Rehabil. 2026 Jul 21. doi: 10.1111/joor.70270. Online ahead of print.

    PubMed 42481438
  • Poulain T, Schmidt R, Kiess W, Krause S, Golz S, Meigen C. Performance on an attention test is positively related to reading but negatively related to watching TV and playing video games in children. BMC Pediatr. 2025 Oct 28;25(1):872. doi: 10.1186/s12887-025-06260-w.

    PubMed 41146137
  • Durgen P, Wolfle PJ, Ceglarek U, Kratzsch J, Kiess W, Vogel M. New sex hormone-binding globulin and estimated free testosterone reference intervals for children and adolescents: The effects of age, sex, BMI and oral contraceptives. Clin Chim Acta. 2026 Jan 15;579:120621. doi: 10.1016/j.cca.2025.120621. Epub 2025 Sep 25.

    PubMed 41015329
  • von Heimburg P, Baber R, Willenberg A, Wolfle P, Kratzsch J, Kiess W, Vogel M. Effect of sex, pubertal stage, body mass index, oral contraceptive use, and C-reactive protein on vitamin D binding protein reference values. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2025 Feb 18;16:1470513. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1470513. eCollection 2025.

    PubMed 40041287
  • Gruning Parache L, Vogel M, Meigen C, Kiess W, Poulain T. Family structure, socioeconomic status, and mental health in childhood. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2024 Jul;33(7):2377-2386. doi: 10.1007/s00787-023-02329-y. Epub 2023 Dec 26.

    PubMed 38147107
  • Wex I, Geserick M, Leibert T, Igel U, Sobek C, Meigen C, Kiess W, Vogel M. Active school transport in an urban environment:prevalence and perceived barriers. BMC Public Health. 2023 Mar 23;23(1):557. doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-15464-7.

    PubMed 36959624
  • Schild CE, Meigen C, Kappelt J, Kiess W, Poulain T. Associations between sociodemographic and behavioural parameters and child development depending on age and sex: a cross-sectional analysis. BMJ Open. 2022 Nov 2;12(11):e065936. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-065936.

    PubMed 36323480
  • Kiess A, Green J, Willenberg A, Ceglarek U, Dahnert I, Jurkutat A, Korner A, Hiemisch A, Kiess W, Vogel M. Age-Dependent Reference Values for hs-Troponin T and NT-proBNP and Determining Factors in a Cohort of Healthy Children (The LIFE Child Study). Pediatr Cardiol. 2022 Jun;43(5):1071-1083. doi: 10.1007/s00246-022-02827-x. Epub 2022 Mar 12.

    PubMed 35277733
  • Hovestadt I, Kiess W, Lewien C, Willenberg A, Poulain T, Meigen C, Korner A, Vogel M. HbA1c percentiles and the association between BMI, age, gender, puberty, and HbA1c levels in healthy German children and adolescents. Pediatr Diabetes. 2022 Mar;23(2):194-202. doi: 10.1111/pedi.13297. Epub 2021 Dec 20.

    PubMed 34877761
  • Menzel P, Vogel M, Austin S, Sprenger N, Grafe N, Hilbert C, Jurkutat A, Kiess W, Binia A. Concentrations of oligosaccharides in human milk and child growth. BMC Pediatr. 2021 Oct 30;21(1):481. doi: 10.1186/s12887-021-02953-0.

    PubMed 34717578
  • Ziegelasch N, Vogel M, Korner A, Koch E, Jurkutat A, Ceglarek U, Dittrich K, Kiess W. Cystatin C relates to metabolism in healthy, pubertal adolescents. Pediatr Nephrol. 2022 Feb;37(2):423-432. doi: 10.1007/s00467-021-05209-2. Epub 2021 Aug 25.

    PubMed 34432142
  • Surup H, Vogel M, Koerner A, Hiemisch A, Oelkers L, Willenberg A, Kiess W, Kratzsch J. Pediatric Reference Intervals for Thyrotropin, Free Triiodothyronine, and Free Thyroxine and the Relevance of Body Mass Index and Puberty in Measurement Interpretation. Thyroid. 2021 Aug;31(8):1192-1202. doi: 10.1089/thy.2020.0780. Epub 2021 Jun 21.

    PubMed 33906420

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

An observational study of Child Development, run by University of Leipzig at 1 site in Germany.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 1 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 4 Mar 2024. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in Germany. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

Contact Antje Körner, Prof., MD (antje.koerner@medizin.uni-leipzig.de), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Civilization diseases and their risk factors (time frame: 20 years). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT02550236, which also lists 21 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 4 Mar 2024.

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