title: [Early childhood growth and development].
abstract: This article describes and discusses issues related to the process of childhood growth and development, with emphasis on the early years, a period in which this process reaches critical speed on major structures and functions of the human economy. We reaffirm that this can contribute to the social availability of a generation of increasingly better adults, which in turn will be able to contribute to building a better world and within it a society that enjoys greater prosperity. In the first chapter, we discuss the general considerations on the favorable evolution of human society based on quality of future adults, meaning the accomplishments that todays children will gain. A second chapter mentions the basics of growth and development in the different fields and the various phenomena that occur in it. In the third we refer to lost opportunities and negative factors that can affect delaying the process and thereby result in not obtaining the expected accomplishments. In the fourth, conclusions and recommendations are presented confirming the initial conception that good early child care serves to build a better society and some recommendations are formulated to make it a good practice.
authors.affiliation: Academia Nacional de Medicina, Lima, Perú
authors.forename: Melitón
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arce
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D048788:Growth and Development; D006801:Humans; D012924:Social Conditions