A lecturer at Bristol University has been awarded £730,000 to research ME in children.

Dr Esther Crawley, senior clinical lecturer at the university's centre for child and adolescent health, will look at the cause, treatment and prevention of the condition, also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Symptoms of ME – myalgic encephalomyelitis – include muscle and joint pain, and chronic mental and physical exhaustion, but there is much about the condition that is unknown, and in the 1980s it was referred to as "yuppie flu".

The five-year study will be the first to look at ME in children in such detail.

Dr Crawley will use data from the university's Children of the 90s study to see how many children in the study had ME age 13, and what factors predict it.

The National Institute of Health Research has awarded the Clinician Scientist Fellowship to Dr Crawley, who is also consultant paediatrician at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases NHS Foundation Trust.

She said: "We do not know how common ME is in children, what the risk factors are for developing it, whether it can be prevented in children at high risk or what the best model for treatment is.

"Current models of care for children are based on adult evidence and there is no information on outcome, treatment or prognosis for children who are severely affected, or the very young.

"These gaps in knowledge were listed as research priority areas by the guideline development group, and this research plans to begin to address them.

"Throughout my clinical career I have aimed to base my practice on robust research evidence.

"This award provides an ideal opportunity for me to achieve my long-term goal of transforming the care of children with ME."