Six years ago, Congress authorized the National Children's Study, an ambitious plan to follow 100,000 children from before birth to the age of 21. It's intended to provide high-quality longitudinal data on how environmental factors affect children's health and development, and to look at why conditions like asthma, autism, obesity, and childhood cancers are on the rise.

Last fall, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development announced that the study would be launched in seven sites.

This spring, President Bush has proposed eliminating the study to save money. It's expected that the 2007 launch would cost about $69 billion.

Study director Peter Scheidt says the work would be cost-effective, because childhood illnesses cost the nation so much -- in emergency room visits, special education costs, diabetes treatment, etc.

This national study would provide us with exactly the kind of solid data we need to get a handle on how our rapidly changing environment is affecting our children's prospects and health. Here's hoping that when the dust from the budget battle settles, it will go forward.