Nuffield Department of Women's & Reproductive Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK.
Oxford Maternal & Perinatal Health Institute, Green Templeton College, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX2 6HG, UK.
Nat Commun. 2019 Jan 30;10(1):511. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-07983-4.
It is unclear whether early child development is, like skeletal growth, similar across diverse regions with adequate health and nutrition. We prospectively assessed 1307 healthy, well-nourished 2-year-old children of educated mothers, enrolled in early pregnancy from urban areas without major socioeconomic or environmental constraints, in Brazil, India, Italy, Kenya and UK. We used a specially developed psychometric tool, WHO motor milestones and visual tests. Similarities across sites were measured using variance components analysis and standardised site differences (SSD). In 14 of the 16 domains, the percentage of total variance explained by between-site differences ranged from 1.3% (cognitive score) to 9.2% (behaviour score). Of the 80 SSD comparisons, only six were >±0.50 units of the pooled SD for the corresponding item. The sequence and timing of attainment of neurodevelopmental milestones and associated behaviours in early childhood are, therefore, likely innate and universal, as long as nutritional and health needs are met.
目前尚不清楚儿童早期发展是否与骨骼生长一样，在健康和营养充足的不同地区都相似。我们前瞻性地评估了 1307 名健康、营养良好的 2 岁儿童，这些儿童的母亲都受过教育，在没有重大社会经济或环境限制的情况下，于孕期早期在巴西、印度、意大利、肯尼亚和英国的城市地区入组。我们使用了专门开发的心理测量工具，即世卫组织运动里程碑和视觉测试。使用方差分量分析和标准化站点差异（SSD）来测量站点间的相似性。在 16 个领域中的 14 个领域中，站点间差异解释的总方差百分比范围从 1.3%（认知评分）到 9.2%（行为评分）。在 80 个 SSD 比较中，只有 6 个大于或等于对应项目 pooled SD 的±0.50 个单位。因此，只要满足营养和健康需求，儿童早期神经发育里程碑和相关行为的获得顺序和时间很可能是先天的和普遍的。
