Sex differences in the canalization of child growth and development: An example of genetic regulation.

In case of a disease or nutritional deficit, the growth curve may show deviations from the percentile it was depicting, and once damage is removed, a strong regulatory force tends to restore its path. Such phenomenon is known as catch-up growth and is an example of canalization of growth. Girls are more favored than boys because, when faced with the same damage, their growth (and also their psychomotor development) shows less deviation than that of boys.

Jacks and other dexterity games in children and their parents.

Traditional games have changed with the development of technology. We analyzed dexterity games played by children and their parents in general, and jacks in particular. A survey was administered to children aged 5-12 years and their families.

Perinatal origin of adult diseases.

Three relevant, interrelated scientific advances are described: the concept of critical periods (CPs), the Barker Hypothesis (BH), and the underlying epigentic mechanisms involved. Critical periods are genetically programmed, highly sensitive time intervals during which the interaction between environment and individuals generates the development of physiological processes related to physical growth and development, survival (breastfeeding), social behavior, and learning. Barker hypothesis is based on the finding that prenatal malnutrition (for example, lowbirthweight) is closely related to mortality due to cardiovascular disease CVD) in the adult, and to the risk conditions leading to it: insuline resistence, metabolic syndrome, obesity, and high blood pressure.

Psychomotor development index in children younger than 6 years from Argentine provinces.

Objective: To obtain a psychomotor development index (PDI) for each Argentine province.

Population And Methods: Using a national, probabilistic, and stratified sample of 13 323 male and female children younger than 6 years selected for the National Survey on Nutrition and Health (Encuesta Nacional de Nutrición y Salud, ENNyS 2004), we estimated the PDI per province based on compliance with 10 developmental milestones. The median age at attainment (median age) of each milestone was estimated adjusting a logistic regression.

Developmental tempo in children aged 0-5 years living under unfavourable environmental conditions.

Objective: To describe the dynamics of development along the early years of life among children living under unfavorable socioeconomic conditions.

Population And Methods: In 5401 children younger than 6 years old living in Florencio Varela and in the Matanza-Riachuelo River Basin (Matanza, Villa 21-24, Wilde, Villa Inflamable and Acuba), areas with a high proportion of families with unmet basic needs, a logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the median age at attainment of 13 psychomotor developmental milestones; differences between these ages and median age at attainment of milestones as per the national reference were plotted on the y-axis, while the median age as per the national reference was plotted on the x-axis.

Results: Three stages were observed: the first one between 0 and 270 days with normal development, in which the median age at attainment was similar to that of the national reference; a second one of progressive development delay; and a third one of recovery at 1260 days.

Languaje: what makes us humans.

Pediatrician carry out the surveillance of language in preschool children as one of the components of child development (language, fine and gross motor skills, etc.). However, language is more than that.

Assessment of child psychomotor development in population groups as a positive health indicator.

Introduction: It is necessary to use health indicators describing the conditions of all individuals in a population, not just of those who have a disease or die.

Objectives: To introduce a method to collect population indicators of psychomotor development in children younger than 6 years old and show its results.

Population And Methods: Data were obtained from a cross-sectional assessment regarding compliance with 13 developmental milestones (selected from the national reference) conducted in 5465 children using five surveys administered by the Matanza-Riachuelo River Basin Authority in areas of this basin where a high proportion of families with unmet basic needs live.

A population-based study of cognitive impairment in socially vulnerable adults in Argentina. The Matanza Riachuelo study preliminary results.

Unlabelled: Population aging has taken place intensively worldwide, even in developing countries. These countries have population groups with low resources and basic unmet needs that are frequently omitted from epidemiological studies.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of cognitive impairment (CI) and dementia in an economic and socially vulnerable population from Argentina.

Validation of a questionnaire for the detection of children at risk of developmental disorders: the PRUNAPE Pre-screening Test.

Introduction: The administration of the National Screening Test (PruebaNacional de Pesquisa, PRUNAPE), a tool which is effective to screen inapparent developmental disorders in children under 6 years old, requires adequate training, time, space and furniture. A simple questionnaire to help screen large population groups could be useful to identify children at risk.

Objective: To evaluate the validity of the PRUNAPE pre-screening questionnaire (cuestionario PRUNAPE pre-pesquisa, CPPP) to identify children at risk of not passing the test.

Administration of the National Screening Test (PRUNAPE) at home level in inner cities.

The administration of the National Screening Test (Prueba Nacional de Pesquisa, PRUNAPE) at households with unmet basic needs (UBNs) can be associated with a high proportion of false positive results. In order to reduce such proportion, the adequacy of the household was assessed in a survey conducted in 2012 by the Environmental Health Division of ACUMAR in La Matanza and Florencio Varela districts, based on five factors: uneven floor, scarce space according to certain PRUNAPE guidelines, environmental noise, privacy, and lack of necessary furniture. If household conditions were inadequate, the PRUNAPE was administered in a trailer located nearby; if the child was "non collaborative" at home, the test was readministered in the trailer.

[Child's subjectivity in postmodern times].

From mid ´50s onwards, we witness a change of paradigm in the Western world: the expression of a historical shift from modernity to postmodernity. This new era includes a strong influence of the media on the population, a change from a lineal sense of time to a virtual, punctual one, and a flooding of overwhelming amount of information, mostly irrelevant, broadcasted in a de-contextualized, synchronic, fragmented and senseless fashion. This new age is characterized, above all, by the destitution of the State, the meta- institution source of legitimacy of all modern institutions: citizenship, factory, and mainly, School, an essential determinant this last one in the construction process of child subjectivity.

[Growth, development, social integration and parenting practices on children living with their mothers in prison].

Unlabelled: Prisons are considered a very high risk environment, but there is very scarce scientific information on the growth and development of children who live there.

Objective: With the purpose of evaluating growth and development of children living with their mothers in prison, a cross sectional survey was performed in 68 children aged 0-3 years in Unit 31, a prison for mothers with children located at 30 km from Buenos Aires.

Methods: Weight, supine length, and developmental quotient (Cats Clams) was measured, PRUNAPE, and SQE-SE test were administered (screening tests for detecting developmental and emotional disorders, respectively).

[Heritability and environment in normal and abnormal development].

The environmental influence on human development can be studied by assessing similarities and discrepancies in developmental traits between biological and adopted siblings and twins, reared together and reared apart. Approximately 50% of total variance of general cognitive ability in a given population can be explained by the environment. This influence gradually decreases with age, from infancy to adulthood.

Growth references for height, weight, and head circumference for Argentine children with achondroplasia.

Unlabelled: In order to prepare growth references for height, weight, and head circumference for Argentine children with Achondroplasia, 228 children (114 boys) aged 0-18 years attending the Growth Clinic at Hospital Garrahan were measured between 1992 and 2009. Centiles were calculated by LMS, a method for summarizing growth data which adjusts for skewness. Curves for centiles are obtained using the formula: [Formula: see text], where Z (α) is the normal equivalent deviate for tail area α; C100α is the weight or height centile corresponding to Z (α), t is age in years, and L(t) is (skewness)(t), M(t) is median, S (t) is coefficient variation and C(100α) (t) indicates the corresponding values of each curve at age t.

[Genetics of development and behaviour].

Quantitative genetics can make a significant contribution to disentangle the relative influence of genetics and environment on human development and its disorders. Estimates of Pearson s correlation coefficients between siblings, mono and dizogotic twins reared together or apart, allows the calculation of heredability, that is, the contribution of genetics to the variance of a given trait. In the case of many aspects of intellectual development, heredability is around 50%.

Short-term growth in head circumference and its relationship with supine length in healthy infants.

Background: Daily changes in height have been found to be a non-linear process. Its exact pattern is still controversial. In previous studies on 34 healthy children aged 0.

[A non invasive method for assessing sexual development at adolescence].

Introduction: Observational assessments of puberty that invades the adolescent's privacy are not acceptable for research in population groups. Results based on self assessment have been variable, and in many cases poor.

Objectives: To evaluate the validity of a questionnaire with simple questions addressed to assess early, intermediate and advanced puberty periods rather than specific stages.