Young Preschool Research Articles

The Emergence and Development of Future-Oriented Cognition in Toddlerhood: The Contribution of Cognitive and Language Abilities

ABSTRACT The development of children’s future-oriented cognition has become a popular research topic in the past two decades. Much of this research focuses on the preschool and middle childhood years, but very little is known about the future-oriented cognitive abilities of toddlers and young preschoolers. The present study investigated the emergence of future-oriented cognition in toddlerhood and explored its relation with cognitive (i.e., executive function, episodic memory, and self-concept) and language abilities (i.e., expressive vocabulary, parent-child talk, temporal word use, and time metaphor use). Parents (N = 205) of 2- to 3-year-old children residing in the United States participated in an online study in which they completed the Children’s Future Thinking Questionnaire (CFTQ) to assess their child’s future-oriented cognition in five key domains. Also, parent-report measures of executive function, self-concept, episodic memory, expressive vocabulary, parent-child talk, child’s temporal word use, and child’s use of time metaphors were administered. Children as young as 2-years-old demonstrated future-oriented abilities. However, parents of 2-year-olds had substantial missing data (e.g., “does not apply”), especially in the planning and prospective memory subscales of the CFTQ. Three-year-olds were rated higher than 2-year-olds on the planning and prospective memory subscales, but there were no differences in ratings for 2- and 3-year-olds on the saving, episodic foresight, and delay of gratification subscales. Episodic memory and time metaphor use were significant independent predictors of future-oriented cognition and thus, both abilities may play a fundamental role in the emergence of future-oriented cognition in young children.

Psychometric Properties of the French European Little Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (LDCDQ-FE): A Pilot Study

Aims The Little Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (LDCDQ) is a parental questionnaire designed to identify preschool children at risk of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). This study aimed to translate and cross-culturally adapt the LDCDQ for French European informants (Little Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire-French European [LDCDQ-FE]) and to undertake a pilot examination of its psychometric properties on a French sample. Methods A thorough process of cultural adaptation was completed. The psychometric properties were examined with a sample of 154 French children aged to 5y11m (control = 121; clinically referred = 33). A sub-group of 34 children was assessed using the MABC-2 to measure convergent validity. Results Principal component analysis demonstrated a four-component structure, accounting for 67.5% of the variance. Internal consistency was acceptable to good (α = 0.74–0.89). Significant correlation between the LDCDQ-FE and the MABC-2 total scores showed convergent validity. Discriminant validity was supported by significant score differences between the clinically referred and a matched control sub-group. Using ROC curves, a cutoff of 67 was proposed for a sensitivity of 81.3% and a specificity of 77.8%. Conclusions Results show initial evidence of the psychometric properties of the LDCDQ-FE and are encouraging of its use to identify young preschoolers at risk for DCD. In future studies, the test-retest reliability should be investigated, and study sample sizes expanded.

Age differences in running biomechanics during footstrike between preschool children and adults

ABSTRACT This study aimed to compare impact loading between two age groups of preschool children (3–4 and 5–6 years old) and one group of young adults representing mature level of running skill (n = 15 per group). Three-dimensional biomechanical data were collected during running barefoot, in minimalist and running shoes. A two-way mixed ANOVA was performed to assess age and footwear differences in vertical instantaneous loading rate (VILR). An interaction was found in VILR. Older (5–6) preschoolers had 30–31% lower VILR than younger (3–4) (p = 0.012, d = 1.02; p = 0.001, d = 1.18) and adults had 51–77% lower VILR than younger preschoolers (p = 0.001, d = 1.85; p = 0.001, d = 2.82) in minimalist and running shoes, respectively. Additionally, adults had lower VILR than older preschoolers in running shoes (p = 0.001, d = 2.68). No differences were found between older children and adults in barefoot and minimalist shoes. Loading decreased with increasing age, particularly in minimalist and running shoes. Unchanged cadence and running speed did not explain the decrease of VILR during preschool age. The explanation likely underlies in lower limb alignment during footstrike and developmental ontogenetic changes.

Mental health problems of preschool children during the COVID-19 home quarantine: A cross-sectional study in Shanghai, China.

As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic spread across Shanghai, China, in late February 2022 and protective measures to mitigate its impact were enacted, this study aimed to estimate how home quarantine affected the mental health of preschool children in Shanghai, China and explore the association between lifestyle factors and mental health during this special period. A cross-sectional online survey of 2,110 preschool students from Shanghai, China, was conducted during May 20-25,2022. Preschooler' mental health (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, SDQ) and daily activities were reported by parents. The sample involved 2,110 children with a mean age of 4.65 years [standard deviation (SD): 0.91, range: 3-6 years]. Boys and children whose mother's education level were college and high school had higher rate of mental health problems. Boys had significantly higher rates of peer problems and prosocial behaviors than girls. The 3-year-old group had significantly higher rates of prosocial behaviors than other groups. As compared to the Shanghai norm and the SDQ results of preschool children in Shanghai in 2019 (SH2019), there were a significant decrease in emotional symptoms score, as well as a significant increase in conduct problems score. Additionally, peer problems score significantly increased compared to SH2019. Decreased time spent on daily sleep was associated with the increased risk for preschoolers' mental health problems. There was an increase in the frequency of emotional and behavioral problems, especially regarding conduct problems and peer problems, in preschool children during the COVID-19 home quarantine in Shanghai, China. Boys, younger preschool children and children whose mother's education level were college and high school may be especially vulnerable to emotional and behavioral problems. It was also found that decreased time spent on sleep may aggravate preschool children's mental health problems. It may be beneficial to differentiate and focus on conducting psychoeducation and implementing psycho-behavioral interventions to solve these issues.

Organizational and methodological features of teaching swimming to children at the initial stage of training

The stage of initial training in swimming occupies an important place in mastering swimming skills in children of primary school age. Thanks to the use of natural factors and properly selected exercises on land and in water, it is possible to achieve the desired effect in improving children's swimming readiness in a short period of time. The purpose of the research is to determine the organizational and methodological features of children's swimming training at the stage of initial training. Research methodology. The work used the methods of the theoretical level of research: analysis, comparison, induction, deduction, systematization and generalization of scientific and methodological literature, regulatory and legal documents. Results. The following sequence of stages of learning to swim for children of younger preschool age has been established, namely: familiarization with water, getting used to water, overcoming water resistance, diving headfirst into water, the ability to stay afloat, the ability to open eyes in the water, sliding in the water, performing paddling movements and learning diving. Conclusions. It has been established that for the initial teaching of swimming, games for familiarization with the properties of water, diving, surfacing, lying down, sliding, and breathing are successfully used. Adaptation to water can take place in the conditions of both a deep-water pool and a shallow one, include preparatory exercises in the conditions of the opportunity to feel the resistance and properties of the water environment.

Says who? Children consider informants’ sources when deciding whom to believe.

To successfully navigate the world, we cannot simply accept everything we hear as true. We must think critically about others' testimony, believing only sources who are well-informed and trustworthy. This ability is especially crucial in early childhood, a time when we both learn the most, and have the least prior knowledge we can fall back upon to verify others' claims. While even young children evaluate testimony by considering whether agents' firsthand experiences license their claims, much of the time, our informants do not possess firsthand knowledge. When agents transmit information learned from others (rather than discovered firsthand), can children also evaluate their testimony's social basis? Across 3 experiments (N = 390), we manipulate the number of primary sources originating a claim, and the number of secondary sources repeating it. We find that by age 6, children understand that a claim is only as reliable as its original source, endorsing claims supported by more primary (rather than secondary) sources. While young preschoolers already understand the link between firsthand perceptual access and knowledge, these results suggest that a full understanding of testimony's social basis may be later-developing. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

A struggle of identification: Hong Kong pre-service teachers’ perceived dilemma of introducing ‘national education’ in preschools

ABSTRACT In the face of the rising tension between Hong Kong and mainland China, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam blamed the city’s education system for its inability to develop a sense of ‘I am Chinese’ national identity and vowed to step up ‘national education’ from preschool. This article explores how 188 young preschool teachers perceived their national identity and viewed the applicability of national education in Hong Kong preschools. Data were collected using both quantitative and qualitative measures. The findings showed that even though the participants strongly resisted their Chinese identity, they agreed that national education could be introduced in preschools if it would be rendered rational and apolitical. Nevertheless, they suspected that the administration’s motive behind national education was political indoctrination. They also noted several pedagogical difficulties. Finally, the implications are discussed against the changing socio-political context, serving as lessons for local and international readers.

Expressive Pragmatics and Prosody in Young Preschoolers are More Closely Related to Structural Language than to Mentalizing

ABSTRACT Pragmatics lies at the point where language meets the social world and encompasses both the linguistic and the social dimensions of communication. However, the relationship between pragmatic abilities, other language skills, and socio-cognitive aspects such as mentalizing is still a matter of wide debate. This study sets out to investigate the status of pragmatic abilities by testing from a developmental angle their relationship with other linguistic skills and mentalizing. We examined the role of structural language and mentalizing on both expressive pragmatic and prosodic skills in typically developing preschool children. A total of 105 3-to 4-year-old children were assessed on pragmatics and prosody with the Audiovisual Pragmatic Test, as well as on structural language skills (vocabulary and syntax) and a series of mentalizing measures (false belief, emotion understanding, and metacognitive vocabulary). A combined approach including correlations, regressions, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used. Structural language was a strong positive predictor of both pragmatic and prosodic scores, while mentalizing predicted neither pragmatic nor prosodic performance. We suggest that in preschool years, expressive pragmatics and prosodic skills are more closely related to structural language skills than to mentalizing.

Integrated versus trial specific focus improves decision-making in older preschoolers

ABSTRACT This study explored the effect of integrated-focus (focusing on a depiction of overall gains/losses) versus trial-focus (focusing on gains/losses at each trial) on choice in a preschool variant of the Iowa Gambling task. Participants included 65 preschoolers (M = 47.82, SD = 7.29). Children completed two versions of the Preschool Gambling task, three cool executive function tasks, a moral reasoning task, and an affective perspective taking task. The results indicated that while the integrated-focus condition led to improvement in the awareness of the game, the condition effect was moderated by age for decision-making choice; older preschoolers showed improvement in decision-making in the integrated focus condition, while younger preschoolers showed no condition effect. Further analysis indicated that differences in the increase of advantageous choice across blocks and the condition effect were partly explained by these differences in awareness. Furthermore, a component of cool executive function (shifting) was associated with the latter phase of decision-making. The findings additionally indicated an association of advantageous decision-making with moral/emotional measures, suggesting that the PGT may be a potentially useful clinical tool for early assessment. Finally, the findings of the current study have implications for how hot and cool executive function abilities may work together to enable adaptive decisions.

Prevalence of the Preschool Teachers’ Physical Activity Level: The Case of the Republic of Croatia

The aim of this article was to determine the prevalence of the Republic of Croatia preschool teachers’ physical activity level and its correlation to chronological age, years of service, degree of education, and place of work. The research was conducted on a sample of 159 preschool teachers from different parts of the Republic of Croatia. The Croatian version of the standardised version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was used. The basic descriptive parameters were calculated, while the correlation between certain variables was determined by the Spearman correlation coefficient and linear regression analysis. Results have shown that almost 80% of preschool teachers do not meet the criteria for the recommended levels of physical activity. They are most physically active at work but are the least active during transportation and leisure time. A statistically significant correlation was determined between physical activity and age, years of service, and place of work. Younger preschool teachers are significantly more physically active in their leisure time than older ones, as are those with fewer years of service. Preschool teachers who work in a bigger city are more physically active at work, whereas those from smaller cities are more active doing their household chores. Furthermore, the independent variables (Age, Years of service, Place of work, Degree of education) in combination significantly affect the level of physical activity of preschool teachers in their leisure time and the overall level of physical activity. Preschool teachers should be models for children, and if they are not physically active themselves, they will not be sufficiently motivated to stimulate the same in children, i.e., the habit of leading an active and healthy life from an early age.

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Excessive Recreational Screen Time Among Colombian Children and Adolescents.

Objectives: Excessive recreational screen time (RST) is associated with detrimental effects for physical, psychological and cognitive development. This article aims to describe the prevalence of excessive RST among Colombian preschoolers, children and adolescents and explore its factors associated. Methods: We analyzed data from the National Survey of Nutrition 2015. The sample included 4,503 preschoolers, 5,333 school-aged children and 6,623 adolescents. Poisson regression models with robust variance were conducted to estimate prevalence ratios and determine associated factors of excessive RST. Results: Fifty percent of preschoolers, 61% of school-aged children and 73% of adolescents in Colombia had excessive RST. Positive associations were observed with the availability of TV in the child’s bedroom, the availability of video games at home, and eating while using screens. A negative association with rural area was observed for all age groups. Conclusion: The majority of Colombian children and adolescents have excessive RST. Younger preschoolers, older school-aged children, wealthiest children and those from urban areas should be targeted by interventions to decrease RST. These interventions should promote limiting the availability of electronic devices in children’s bedrooms and not eating in front of screens.

Investigating the cause and effect factors of young children’s smartphone overuse: focusing on the influence of parenting factors

ABSTRACT This research investigates the causal factors of smartphone overuse in young children, especially toddlers and preschoolers aged 1–6 years, including parenting style, efficacy, and stress, and parents’ smartphone overuse and the effect on children’ temperaments. Data were collected through a web-based survey in South Korea. Participants were smartphone users who had a child using a smartphone under six years. There were 357 responses in the sample. Roughly 80.4% of parents were in their 30s, and 46.5% of children were toddlers aged 1–3 years. We used structural equation modeling to investigate the relation between children’s smartphone overuse and parenting-related variables. Parenting style influences parenting efficacy, which decreases parenting stress and smartphone overuse among both parents and children. Parents’ smartphone overuse also influences children’s smartphone overuse. Young children’s smartphone overuse affects their activity, emotional sensitivity, and sociability. Finally, smartphone overuse and emotional sensitivity are higher in toddlers than preschoolers. Our results provide practical implications for the parents, government, and providers of content for young children. First, parents should delay their young children’s smart devices usage, watch together, and communicate when their young children use smart devices. Second, government should provide timely information about parenting. Finally, content providers should make content shorter and provide warnings to take breaks, and develop content that improves children’s activity and sociability, and tailoring content to particular age groups.

Numerical Training Videos and Early Numerical Achievement: A Study on 3-Year-Old Preschoolers.

Early numerical abilities predict later math achievement and could be improved in children by using various training methods. As the literature on the use of training videos to develop numerical abilities is still surprisingly scant, the aim of the present study was to test the efficacy of a numerical training video on the development of counting and number line knowledge in 3-year-old preschoolers. Far transfer effects to cardinality and working memory were also examined. The study involved 86 children randomly assigned to two intervention groups: a numerical training group exposed to videos on counting and number lines; and a control group exposed to videos on colors and animal names in a foreign language. After the video training, there was an improvement in the numerical training group’s counting skills, but not in their number line knowledge, and this improvement persisted six months later. The numerical training group also showed a far-transfer enhancement of cardinality six months after the intervention. Based on our results, numerical training videos could be effective in helping to enhance early numeracy skills in very young preschoolers.

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ СОЦІАЛЬНОЇ ІНТЕГРАЦІЇ ДІТЕЙ МОЛОДШОГО ДОШКІЛЬНОГО ВІКУ ІЗ ЗАГАЛЬНИМ НЕДОРОЗВИТКОМ МОВЛЕННЯ

The development of Ukraine and its integration into the European space have a significant impact on the educational policy and practice of our state. This especially applies to ensuring the right of children with special educational needs to study. Therefore, one of the priority directions of the development of the national education system is the search for effective ways of including children with special educational needs in the educational environment, ensuring their socialization and social integration. Insufficient attention is paid to finding effective ways to include preschool children with special educational needs in an inclusive educational environment to ensure their socialization and social integration. Taking into account the fact that the preschool education institution is the first link of education in Ukraine, within which the socialization of the child is carried out, it is important to understand the peculiarities of the social integration of the preschooler in the general educational space and to apply scientifically based, effective and age-appropriate means of social integration to ensure it. The article analyzes general and special psychological and pedagogical literature on the concept of "social integration"; the essence of the process of social integration of children of younger preschool age with general underdevelopment of speech is determined. The criteria and indicators of social integration of children of younger preschool age are substantiated, the methodology of researching the level of social integration of children of the specified age group is described, the features of social integration of children of younger preschool age with general underdevelopment of speech are outlined on the basis of a qualitative analysis of the results of a diagnostic study regarding each of the competencies of children of younger preschool age, and also compared the level of social integration of children of younger preschool age with typical development with the level of social integration of children of younger preschool age with general underdevelopment of speech.

The association between sleep and empathy in young preschoolers: A population study.

Sleep is vital for children's early socio-emotional development, particularly empathy. This study aimed to explore the associations between sleep and empathy in young preschoolers. A sample of 23,259 preschoolers (4.3±0.3years) at the entry year of preschool was recruited as part of the Shanghai Children's Health, Education and Lifestyle Evaluation-Preschool (SCHEDULE-P) study. Caregivers reported on child sleep, affective empathy, and cognitive empathy through the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire and the Griffith Empathy Measure. Ordinary least-square regression and quantile regression were performed for the associations between sleep and empathy. Sex differences were also investigated. Night sleep duration was negatively associated with affective empathy (β=-0.35, p<0.001), and positively associated with cognitive empathy (β=0.41, p<0.001). Longer nap duration was associated with higher affective empathy (β = 0.28, p < 0.001). Sleep disturbances were positively associated with affective empathy (β=0.04, p<0.001) and negatively associated with cognitive empathy (β=-0.09, p<0.001). These associations were generally stronger in children at higher empathy quantiles and also those at the 10th cognitive empathy quantile. The associations between sleep and affective empathy were mainly contributed by girls, and were more common in boys in terms of cognitive empathy, particularly at the 10th and the 30th quantiles. In conclusion, longer night sleep duration and fewer sleep disturbances are associated with a more mature empathy pattern in young preschoolers. The associations are more prominent in children at the higher end of the empathy spectrum, and vary by sex. These findings highlight the importance to promote sleep health in young children for optimal socio-emotional development.

Gender features of the life quality of preschool children living in Dushanbe

Aim. To assess the parameters and gender characteristics of the life quality of preschool children and the influence of a complex of factors on them.Material and methods. A study of the quality of life of 354 children was carried out. Ther were divided into two subgroups - younger (3-4 years old, 97 children) and senior preschool age (5-7 years old, 257 children). The PedsQL ™ 4.0 questionnaire was used to assess the QoL of children.Results and discussion. It was found that with age, the parameters of QOL increase on the scale of “emotional functioning”, and on the scale of “functioning in kindergarten” - decreases. The children of 5-7 years old themselves rated such aspects of QOL as emotional and role functioning significantly higher. Gender differences had specificitiesthe QOL of boys in the younger preschool group was higher in terms of emotional functioning. According to children, differences were established on the scale of “social functioning”, where this indicator was significantly higher in girls. The interrelation of various risk factors on the QOL indicators of children has proved to be valid.Conclusion. The results of the survey showed that parents tend to assess the QOL of their children in this age category somewhat lower than the children themselves. The results once again confirm the influence of various medical and social factors on the QOL of children.

Do embodiment and fictionality affect young children’s learning?

Preschool-aged children can learn from fictional, pretend, and imaginative activities. However, many studies showing this learning involve children as physically passive while consuming fictional narratives rather than as actively, physically engaged. Physical engagement may add to cognitive processes already at play when watching narratives, making children more likely to retain or understand information. Children’s natural pretend involves physical movement, role play, and embodiment. To test learning from embodied pretense, we conducted two studies in which we experimentally manipulated whether children were physically passive while consuming narratives or physically actively engaged with them through embodied pretend play using puppets or costumes. In Study 1, children were shown/engaged in television-based narratives, all of which contained fantastical content. In Study 2, children were shown/engaged in lab-created stories, some of which contained fantastical elements. We measured children’s learning and perceptions of realism. In Study 1, neither perception of fictionality nor embodiment immediately affected learning, although older preschoolers learned more than younger preschoolers. In Study 2, neither perception nor presence of fantastical content affected learning, but embodiment did. Children learned more from both embodied conditions compared with the physically passive condition. We also included 2-week follow-up tests of recall and found that although children retained very little, embodiment still affected retention in both studies. Overall, children did not use realism judgments to differentiate learning. These findings show the complexity of different elements involved in children’s learning from pretense and the need to understand what elements affect learning from fantastical and embodied pretend play and stories.

Prediction of premyopia and myopia in Chinese preschool children: a longitudinal cohort

BackgroundsMyopia has become a global public health problem. Children with early onset of myopia are at particular risk of complications associated with myopia. Younger children and children with greater initial myopic refractive errors are at a greater risk of myopia progression. Therefore, it is essential to identify subjects at high risk of developing myopia to facilitate myopia prevention in the early stage, especially during the preschool period. The purpose of this study was to determine whether premyopia and myopia in preschool children can be predicted by easily obtainable parameters.MethodsData was collected in a population-based cohort. Comprehensive examinations included height, weight, refraction, axial length (AL), and corneal radius of curvature (CR), with a follow-up of 2 years. Parental myopia history was obtained from a questionnaire. Myopia was defined as spherical equivalent (SE) ≤ − 0.50 D. Premyopia was defined as − 0.50 D < SE ≤ + 0.75 D. Multivariate linear regression models were fitted to determine the associations between these parameters at baseline and future SE. To predict premyopia and myopia, Cox proportional hazard regression analysis coupled with a nomogram was used.ResultsA total of 830 children (433 boys and 397 girls) were included (40.83 ± 3.43 months old at baseline). A significantly negative relationship was observed in the multivariate analysis between baseline AL, AL/CR, two myopic parents, and the future SE after adjusting for age and gender (coefficient = − 0.291, coefficient = − 5.791, coefficient = − 0.273, respectively, both p < 0.001). Higher baseline AL, AL/CR (hazard ratio (HR) = 4.916, HR = 2.979, respectively, comparing the top quartile with the bottom quartile, both p < 0.001) and two myopic parents (HR = 1.756, compared to no myopic parents, p = 0.001) were associated with a higher risk of future onset of premyopia. From the nomogram, AL/CR was found to have the most enormous effect on survival. Different baseline AL and AL/CR values (both Log Rank p < 0.001) had different survival curves.ConclusionsAL and AL/CR could be used as obtainable indicators for identifying subjects at high risk of developing premyopia and myopia in young preschool children.

Bridging the Gap Between Prosody and Pragmatics: The Acquisition of Pragmatic Prosody in the Preschool Years and Its Relation With Theory of Mind.

While it is well known that prosodic features are central in the conveyance of pragmatic meaning across languages, developmental research has assessed a narrow set of pragmatic functions of prosody. Research on prosodic development has focused on early infancy, with the subsequent preschool ages and beyond having received less attention. This study sets out to explore how young preschoolers develop the ability to use prosody to express pragmatic meanings while taking into account children’s Theory of Mind (ToM) development. Though ToM has been suggested to be linked to the development of receptive prosody, little is known about its relationship with expressive prosodic skills. A total of 102 3- to 4-year-old Catalan-speaking children were assessed for their pragmatic prosody skills using 35 picture-supported prompts revolving around a variety of social scenarios, as well as for their ToM skills. The responses were analyzed for prosodic appropriateness. The analyses revealed that 3- to 4-year-olds successfully produced prosody to encode basic expressive acts and unbiased speech acts such as information-seeking questions. Yet they had more trouble with complex expressive acts and biased speech acts such as the ones that convey speakers’ beliefs. Further analyses showed that ToM alone is not sufficient to explain children’s prosodic score, but the prosodic performance in some pragmatic areas (unbiased pragmatic meanings) was predicted by the interaction between ToM and age. Overall, this evidence for the acquisition of pragmatic prosody by young preschoolers demonstrates the importance of bridging the gap between prosody and pragmatics when accounting for prosodic developmental profiles, as well as taking into account the potential influence of ToM and other socio-cognitive and language skills in this development.

Urogenital tuberculosis in children 0 - 14 years old in the structure of other localizations of tuberculosis

Introduction. Extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) still has many features: there is a different approach to its definition in different countries, there is no screening, diagnosis is extremely difficult and requires financial costs, and bacteriological verification does not exceed 46%, complex restorative and reconstructive operations are used in treatment. the proportion of patients with isolated extrapulmonary localizations among tuberculosis patients is low.Purpose of the study. To study the structure of tuberculosis (TB) in children with the accentuation of EPTB in the current conditions to determine the development areas of preventive and diagnostic measures.Materials and methods. A retrospective two-stage study was carried out in the period from 1989 to 2018 among in-patient children aged 0 - 14 yrs. At the first stage, the structure of clinical forms of TB was assessed in 2306 children. Three comparison groups were formed following ten-year periods. At the second stage, 4 groups were identified according to age: early age, preschool age, primary school age, prepubertal age. The data obtained in the course of the study were statistically processed using the Microsoft Office 2007 (Microsoft Corp., USA) and Biostat 2009 (AnalystSoft Inc., USA) software package. The differences between the groups were determined using the χ2 test, and significant differences were considered when the value of the p &lt; 0.05 criterion.Results. It was found that throughout the entire observation period in the region, the predominant localization of the specific process was respiratory TB. The proportion of isolated extrapulmonary lesions in children decreased from 11.1% in the period from 1999 to 2008 to 3.4% in the period from 2009 to 2018 (p = 0.000). At the same time, the most frequent localization (60.4 - 77.8% of cases) among EPTB remains urinary TB. In the dynamics from 1989 to 2018, the number of cases of the disease with combined forms of tuberculosis increased (from 3.1% to 7.2%; p = 0.000), mainly due to the establishment of several localizations of the lesion. The frequency of bacteriological confirmation of the diagnosis was significantly different at various localizations of the specific process. In children of the compared periods of childhood, the predominant localization of the specific process was isolated respiratory TB. The isolated extrapulmonary process localizations were more common in the age groups 7 - 11 and 12 - 14 yo, where it accounted for 10.8 - 12.4% of TB cases (p = 0.000). The localization of the EPTB also depended on the children's age. So, young children often developed damage to the osteoarticular system, in preschool children - the genitourinary and lymphatic (peripheral lymphadenopathy) systems, in younger schoolchildren and preschoolers - the genitourinary system. The frequency of bacteriological confirmation of the EPTB increased with the age. The combined forms of a specific process were more often observed in the age group of 7 - 11 yo, in the other groups their share was 77.4%, 87.1%, and 95.0% of cases. Respiratory TB and TB of other organs was confirmed bacteriologically more often in the age group 7 - 11 yo (19.4%), and in the group 12 - 14 yo in 12.9%, 4 - 6 yo in 10.0%, early age in 9.7%, which is much more frequent than confirmation of isolated respiratory TB.Conclusions. EPTB in children has not lost its position and due to the widespread introduction of the recombinant TB allergen and CT into clinical practice. It has become more often detected in combination with respiratory TB. Among the EPTB, genitourinary tuberculosis prevailed, which can be verified in contrast to damage to other organs. Raising the level of awareness of paediatricians and phthisiatrician-paediatricians about the frequency of EPTB occurrence makes it possible to form alertness in terms of the possibility of their development and to timely detect the disease at an early stage.