Indoor Environment and Children’s Health (IECH) – An ongoing epidemiological investigation on the association between indoor environmental factors in homes and kindergartens and children’s health and wellbeing

"Indoor Environment and Children's Health" is an ongoing three-year research program (2007-2010) on associations between indoor environmental factors in homes and kindergartens and children's health and wellbeing, with special emphasis on asthma and allergy. The study is divided into three parts. The first part was a questionnaire survey of children's health and indoor environmental exposures in homes and day care facilities. 17500 questionnaires were distributed to all families with children aged 1 to 5 years that were living on the Danish island of Fynen.

The questionnaire addressed the health of the child; characteristics of the dwelling, especially the child's bedroom; pet keeping; food habits; and other environmental factors; altogether there were 116 questions. 11100 families returned the questionnaire corresponding to a response rate of 64 %. In the second part, a case-control study was conducted with 500 children aged 3-5 years; 200 were suffering from asthma/allergy and 300 were randomly selected.

As part of this study, a detailed investigation was conducted of the indoor environments in the children's homes and kindergartens (when applicable). All 500 children also received a detailed clinical examination by a physician. The third part of this program will be an intervention study, where 3 to 5 kindergartens with the highest absenteeism among the children will be renovated with steps taken to improve the indoor environment.