FAQ

What are the benefits of participating in the Observatory for the child and the parents?

Detailed personalized report on an annual basis, at no cost for:

a) Nutrition analysis and assessment

b) General urinalysis

c) Drinking water analysis for chlorine and other chemicals

d) Other analyses for health and environmental indicators.

A newsletter on the progress and preliminary results of the Observatory for all children in total.

All children will also receive

Gift voucher for each assessment.

What are the expected benefits for society and the research community?

1. Understanding the impact of the environment on the development of chronic diseases at an early stage

The most important impact of the Observatory is that it will provide an understanding on the impact of the environment in the development of diseases or the deterioration of early-stage disease markers in children over time.

2. Temporal dynamics of early-stage markers

The high number of repeated measurements in a critical life stage, such as the one starting primary school, will generate novel knowledge on the finely-resolved temporal dynamics of disease process, by focusing on early-stage disease markers (i.e., oxidative stress/damage and inflammation biomarkers, omics signatures).

This annual assessment for six years might offer insights on which exposures should be controlled and when (age range).

3. Discovery of new biomarkers important for the progression of chronic diseases at an early stage

Various -omics platforms will be used (e.g. metabolomics, transcriptomics) as part of the annual assessment of the children’s exposome profile and will be used as an intermediate biological layer between biomarkers of exposure and effect. Statistical analysis will explore the association of omics markers with variables of exposure and effect, and this may lead to the discovery of novel omics signatures that would be potentially designated as early precursors of chronic diseases.

4. Recommendations for evidence-based guidelines and interventions/control measures

Based on the scientific evidence that will be collected annually from all children, we will be able to prepare guidelines and interventions/control measures that will be disseminated to policymakers such as the Ministries of Health and Education. By implementing these evidence-based interventions/control measures, government health expenditure and overall societal costs are expected to decrease, as the proportion of people who will develop chronic diseases in the future will decrease.

5. Investment in future studies and collaborations with local and European organizations

Through the establishment of this Observatory in Cyprus, we will collect high-quality spatio-temporal child population health data, with bio-specimens safely stored in a biobank and data stored in an electronic toolbox-hub. This infrastructure will not only serve to achieve the objectives of this study but also will be an investment as it can be used for future hypotheses testing/generation, and collaborations with local and EU organisations and with other observatories.

What does the child’s voluntary participation in the Observatory include?

We will assess children’s environmental factors and health indicators once a year, for 6 years (a total of 6 assessments from first to sixth grade). The first assessment took place in the 2023-2024 school year.

Each assessment will include:

Questionnaires to be answered by parents-guardians
Diet recalls for 3 typical days of the child’s diet (2 weekdays and 1 weekend day)
Saliva and urine samples from the child
Child anthropometric and blood pressure measurements
Drinking water samples from home and school
Sensors and samplers at school
Questionnaires to be answered by headmasters and teachers

What kind of data will be collected and how?

Collection of saliva and urine samples from the child to assess levels of chemicals, metabolites, and other biomarkers.
Anthropometric measurements (weight, height and waist circumference) and blood pressure measurements of the child by specialized researchers at the school.
Collection of drinking water samples from home to assess chemical levels. Simple instructions and collection containers will be provided to parents.
Collection of drinking water samples from the school to assess chemical levels.
Completion of questionnaires by parents/guardians to collect information regarding the residential environment, the lifestyle of the children and parents/guardians, the health status of the children and parents/guardians, the psychosocial status of the child and demographic data.
Installation of sensors and samplers in classrooms and outside of the school to assess the levels of indoor and outdoor air quality factors in the school.
Completion of questionnaires on school/classroom characteristics by principals/teachers.

How will your child’s privacy and yours be protected?

Your privacy is protected by our research team’s compliance with the requirements of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Data will be processed in such a way that your data can no longer be linked to you and your child.
Your name is replaced by a code. The data connection code is stored electronically in a secure place with access to it only by the scientific director, Professor Konstantinos C. Makris, Corina Konstantinou, PhD student/research associate and Georgia Soursou, research associate.
Published reports of the results donot contain personal data.
The Data Protection Officer at our university is at your disposal for questions or concerns regarding data protection: Maria Ioannou, Data Protection Officer, Cyprus University of Technology, No. phone: 25-002355, email: gdpr.dpo@cut.ac.cy.

What if you have any concerns or complaints while your child is participating in the Observatory?

The welfare, safety and protection of the rights of your child and yours is our highest priority and we will take all necessary measures.
If you have any concerns, please discuss them with our research team or contact Observatory coordinator Dr. Konstantinos C. Makris, Professor of Environmental Health, e-mail: konstantinos.makris@cut.ac.cy, tel: 25-002398, fax: 25-002676.
In the unlikely event that you wish to file a complaint or complaint regarding the Observatory, you may do so by contacting Dr. Charalambos Chrysostomou, Head of Research Service at CUT, e-mail: c.chrisostomou@cut.ac.cy, tel.: 25-002562, who has no connection with the Observatory and functions as an independent supervisor.

What if you agree to have your child take part in the Observatory, but change your mind later?

You can withdraw approval for your child’s participation at any stage, for any reason without having to give any explanations and without any consequences for you or your child, by sending an email to the scientific director, Professor Konstantinos C. Makris (konstantinos.makris@cut.ac.cy).
In the event that you withdraw your child’s participation, the child’s data and biological samples will remain stored for statistical analysis (anonymized), unless you request in writing from the scientific manager the deletion of the data and destruction of the samples.

Are there risks or inconveniences involved with your child’s participation in the Observatory?

There are no risks since the sampling is non-invasive.
You will need to complete questionnaires, collect drinking water samples and help your child collect a urine sample once a year.

Why is your written consent needed?

Your written consent confirms that you agree to have your child take part in the Observatory after you understand what is required of you and your child and your rights.
You have the right to withdraw your participation without any consequences at any point in time.
A copy of the Consent Form is attached to the email sent to you and you can keep it for future reference.

What will happen to the collected samples and data?

Your samples and data will only be used in accordance with the consent form and in a way that protects your privacy in accordance with the European GDPR regulation.
The data that are collected through biological samples, water samples, sensors, samplers, anthropometric measurements, blood pressure measurements and questionnaires are stored electronically in a secure place with limited access to specific individuals of the research team.
The biological samples are stored in the Biobank of the University of Cyprus.
The water samples are stored in the storage area (basement) of the Cyprus International Institute for Environmental and Public Health.

The creation of the Observatory is based on the principles of personalized prevention. What does the term personalized prevention mean?

Personalized prevention is preventive measures and actions based on each individual and/or subsets of individuals who share common characteristics of habits/behaviors and health risks, taking into account factors such as area of residence, activities, lifestyle and family a person’s health history.
The goal of personalized prevention is to find the best ways for a person to stay healthy.

Why is the creation of the Observatory important?

To characterize the environmental factors and the health profile in primary school children from different regions of Cyprus at 6 time points.
To investigate possible correlations between exposure to multiple environmental factors and health indicators, as usually happens in our everyday life.
To form the basis for the creation of a long-term infrastructure for further research for the benefit of the health and environment of children in Cyprus.
To propose policies and interventions that will improve children’s health and reduce the likelihood of NCDs occurring in the future.

Is there a cost for your child’s participation in the Observatory?

There is no cost for your child’s participation in the Observatory.

Who has approved the creation of the Observatory?

We have received the required approvals from the Cyprus National Bioethics Committee (EEVK/ΕΠ/ 2022/68)and the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth (07.15.005.011.001).

Who coordinates the Observatory?

The Cyprus International Institute for Environmental and Public Health at the Cyprus University of Technology in collaboration with the Center of Excellence for Biobanking and Biomedical Research of the University of Cyprus.

The Observatory is part of an international network of research organizations dealing with the systematic observation of health and environmental indicators of children in 5 Mediterranean countries.