Nutrition and psychomotor development during the first six months of life.

Objective,To study the psychomotor development of young infants from a poor and underfed rural community and to correlate this with the nutritional conditions of the mother during pregnancy and the child itself. Material and methods. We studied 82 mother-child pairs from the 5th month of pregnancy to the 6th month of life of the child as to anthropometry and food consumption. The neonatal Brazelton test and the Bayley test at 3 and 6 months were applied to the child. Results. Several of the neonatal psychomotor tests applied to the child correlate positively with the mother's weight and skin folds, as well as with the child's own previous weight and size. This was also true for maternal consumption of animal foods and fruits during pregnancy. A negative correlation was observed with the consumption of corn tortillas and beans. The correlation of several tests applied to the child at six months was positive with its complementary consumption, total energy and several foods, specially egg, milk and fruit around three months of age. Conclusions. Small variations in nutrition of the mother-child pairs from the poor rural community studied had consequences on the psychomotor development of the infant. These findings point to the need for more applied nutrition programs.