title: Growth and development and their environmental and biological determinants.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate child growth, cognitive/language development, and their environmental and biological determinants.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cross-sectional, predictive correlation study with all 92 children aged 24-36 months who attended the municipal early childhood education network in a town in the Vale do Jequitinhonha region, in 2011. The socioeconomic profile was determined using the questionnaire of the Associação Brasileira de Empresas de Pesquisa. The socio-demographicand maternal and child health profiles were created through a self-prepared questionnaire. The height-for-age indicator was selected to represent growth. Cognitive/language development was assessed through the Bayley Scale of Infant and Toddler Development. The quality of educational environments was assessed by Infant/Toddler Environment Scale; the home environment was assessed by the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment. The neighborhood quality was determined by a self-prepared questionnaire. A multivariate linear regression analysis was performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Families were predominantly from socioeconomic class D, with low parental education. The prevalence of stunted growth was 14.1%; cognitive and language development were below average at 28.6% and 28.3%, respectively. Educational institutions were classified as inadequate, and 69.6% of homes were classified as presenting a risk for development. Factors such as access to parks and pharmacies and perceived security received the worst score regarding neighborhood environment. Biological variables showed a greater association with growth and environmental variables with development.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results showed a high prevalence of stunting and below-average results for cognitive/language development among the participating children. Both environmental and biological factors were related to growth and development. However, biological variables showed a greater association with growth, whereas environmental variables were associated with development.
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Health, Society and Environment (SaSA), Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM), Unaí, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: da Rocha Neves
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Health, Society and Environment (SaSA), Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM), Unaí, MG, Brazil. Electronic address: rosanesmorais@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Rosane Luzia
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: de Souza Morais
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Health, Society and Environment (SaSA), Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM), Unaí, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Romero Alves
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Health, Society and Environment (SaSA), Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM), Unaí, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Priscilla Avelino Ferreira
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Pinto
mesh_terms: D000886:Anthropometry; D001938:Brazil; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005183:Failure to Thrive; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D006130:Growth Disorders; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007804:Language Development; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Child development; Child health; Desenvolvimento infantil; Failure to thrive; Insuficiência de crescimento; Saúde da criança