MIND: Toddlers (H-55761)

Can we learn how your toddler’s diet impacts their cognitive development, within a couple of study visits? 

Understanding the impact of nutrition on the cognitive development of toddlers is a difficult task. Toddlers go through several important changes between the ages of 18 and 24 months, but we know little about how the foods they eat during this time impacts their development. However, new scientific developments have made it so that we are now able to study this through looking at our metabolites, which are small chemical signals left behind by the food we eat. These metabolites are found in our blood and will allow our researchers to study how the food toddlers eat affects their brain development. If we are able to study how these metabolites are linked to cognitive ability, we can also gain a greater understanding of which dietary factors can support early cognitive development in toddlers.

What is the purpose of the MIND: Toddler’s Study?

The Metabolomic Investigation of Nutrition and Development in Toddlers Study (MIND: Toddlers) wants to better understand how diet impacts the brain development of toddlers (ages 18-24 months). Specifically, using this study’s data, we will first study the relationship between dietary intake in 18-24 months toddlers and their cognitive development, and then examine how the molecules found in the child’s blood that came from their food are related to cognitive development in toddlers. 

What is involved in the study?

• 2 visits, at 18 months and 24 months of age, to the Texas Children’s Hospital Clinical Research Center (CRC)
• Observational play activities
• Caregiver surveys
• Height and weight measurements
• Blood sample (less than ¼ of a teaspoon)
• Up to $125 in pre-paid gift cards, free parking, and optional free portraits! 

Who is eligible to enroll?

• Full-term-born toddlers, 12-18 months of age
• Meets health criteria
• Participating guardian speaks, reads, and understands English

Check if your child may be eligible using our pre-screener, and our team will contact you for follow-up!

How to learn more and get involved

Complete our contact form below. Someone on our team will contact you to provide more details and screen you and your toddler’s eligibility to participate. Or you may e-mail (MIND.Toddlers@bcm.edu) or call us at (713) 798-7062.