Academics will study thousands of children who seek support from NHS gender identity services which includes toddlers.
Experts said there is “limited evidence about how best to support young people who experience gender incongruence”, with previous studies looking at fewer children and research teams reporting high dropout rates among those involved.
Academics from King’s College London will track up to 3,000 children under the age of 18 who seek help through NHS Children and Young People’s Gender Services, with recruitment expected to start in the autumn.
It was revealed earlier this year that nursery-age toddlers who believe they are transgender are among those receiving treatment through NHS specialist gender clinics after a minimum age limit of seven years old was canned.
On its website, King's College London says the study is open to "all young people" attending the NHS Children and Young People’s Gender Services.
The new research project, dubbed Pathways Horizon, will track the physical and mental health and wellbeing of children over a number of years.
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|Academics are to study thousands of children who seek support from NHS gender identity services
It could highlight differences among children with autism and ADHD and potential differences among those seeking care based on their gender at birth.
“There have been an increase of about 20-fold in the number of children and young people presenting to gender services in the UK, said chief investigator of the study Emily Simonoff, professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at King’s College London.
“That’s actually an international trend in other high-income countries in Europe, the US and Australia, and we don’t fully understand why.
“We know that there are differences in the children and young people who are presenting to services. And, most notably, that there’s a marked increase in the number of birth-registered females who are presenting to services.
“That means that we need to collect evidence about what are the care and support needs for the group of children, young people who are currently attending services. And that’s what Pathways aims to do.”
Under-18s involved in the study and their parents will complete a series of questionnaires which will focus on gender identity; physical and mental health; quality of life and wellbeing.
The surveys will also ask children how they feel about their bodies, their relationships and their school life.
They will be tracked for a number of years and their information will be linked to their health and education records.
The study is observational, which means the research team will track children over time without changing any elements of their care.