By the beginning of the new millenium, no representative data on the health and development of children and adolescents in Germany were available. Therefore the German Federal Ministry of Health commissioned the Robert Koch Institute to design and conduct a nation-wide study into the health of the young generation.

The KiGGS study was designed as a comprehensive, nation-wide, representative interview and examination survey for the age group 0-17 years. Between May 2003 and May 2006, a total of 17,641 participants from 167 communities were enrolled. The data obtained from each study subject include objective measures of physical and mental health as well as parent- or self-reported information regarding the subjective health status, health behaviour, health care utilisation, social and migrant status, living conditions, and environmental determinants of health.

Initial results have been presented at a public symposium held on 25th September 2006 in Berlin. Approximately 500 representatives of the scientific community, the public health service, health politics, the media and the general public had registered for this event. Abstracts of the presentations are published in "Bundesgesundheitsblatt" (Vol. 49, No. 10, 2006). [pdf]

In December 2006 an information brochure was sent to all study participants. The brochure gives an overview of the aims and initial results of the study and is written in a generally understandable manner. This brochure is available in German only. [pdf]

Further results in more detail and information about the study design are presented in a special edition of the "Bundesgesundheitsblatt" (principal publication). The abstracts of these articles are available in English. [more]

More information in English about study design and methods is given in an article published in BioMed Central Public Health in June 2008. [more] 

Last updated: March 2009