The specific aims are as follows: (1) To continue development of the key technical skills needed to follow-up a larger nui families from inore CIP counties and estimate the follow-up rate; (2) To continue building and strengthening human resource capacity to enable conduct >. .lii expanded project including non-communicable disease research study design, human subjects protection, data analysis and interpretation, and reporting in the scientific literature and to the general population; (3) To evaluate the CIP children to determine whether there are differences between children whose mothers did or did not take folic acid before and during early pregnancy with lespeiit to growth, development, nutritional status, and cognitive ability, temperament and beha iora1 development; (4) To evaluate the general health status of the CIP mothers during the years follow i.i^ . conclusion of the original intervention program at the end of 1996 to determine whether ircre are differences in general health status, and the occurrence of disease between who did or did not take folic acid during the CIP; (5) To obtain questionnaire information and biologic sanples from family members to examine genetic factors and environment exposure factors in this cohoit, and (6) To construct and test new hi-potheses on the cause(s) and mechanism(s) of other diseases or health outcomes of interest.
