Abstract
ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE To investigate the association between child care attendance since birth and development in two-years-old Brazilian children.METHODS The study used longitudinal data from the 2015 Pelotas Birth Cohort. The childhood development (cognitive, fine and gross motor skills, and language) at two-years-old children was assessed using INTER-NDA (INTERGROWTH-21st Neurodevelopment Assessment). The child care attendance was measured at ages one and two years and categorized as: a) never attended child care; b) attended some child care (one or two years); and c) always attended child care (one and two years). Demographic, socioeconomic, health, and child stimulation variables were considered as confounders. Crude and adjusted analyses of child care attendance and development were carried out using linear regression.RESULTS Out of the 3,870 infants included in the analyses, around 1/3 attended center-based child care. In crude analyses, attending center-based child care was associated with positive developmental outcomes, except in motor domains. In adjusted analyses, compared to those children that have never attended child care, children who did attend presented higher scores for cognitive development (always in child care: β: 2.44, 95%CI: 0.83–4.05; some child care: β: 1.35, 95%CI: 0.17–2.53).CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that center-based child care may help improve child cognitive development in the Brazilian context. Furthermore, the association was higher for early and continued attendance. Considering the low prevalence of children in external care, it is recommended to improve child care opportunities in early childhood.
Highlights
The first years of life are the most important period for growth and development of a human being, with a major impact on future health[1]
This study suggests that center-based child care may help improve child cognitive development in the Brazilian context
Mothers of children included in the analyses were child care attendance
Summary
The first years of life are the most important period for growth and development of a human being, with a major impact on future health[1]. Child development is an interactive and maturational process, with the environment affecting multiple domains of development, including motor, language, cognitive, socio-emotional, and self-regulation skills[2]. In low and middle income countries, about 80 million children aged three and four years, experienced low cognitive and/or socio-emotional development in 20103. Educational interventions show that preschool education can positively affect a child cognitive and social skills and school progress[6,7], as well as behavioral, health, and schooling benefits[7]. The impact of early education and care programs – based on care centers – have shown short-term effects and small positive longterm effects on cognitive development[8,9], social-emotional development, school progress, antisocial behavior, and even crime[9]. In Brazil, a study that evaluated the impacts of state public child care did not find associations between child care attendance and cognitive or executive function[10]
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