RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To determine the overall development level in children ages 0 to 4 who live in very depressed socioeconomic and cultural conditions. DESIGN: This study is observational, cross-sectional, and prospective. SETTING: The study was carried out in four types of communities in the state of Jalisco, Mexico: migrant, indigenous, rural, and irregular urban communities on the outskirts of cities. PARTICIPANTS: 1277 children under the age of 4 years, who live in the communities selected for the study. PRINCIPAL MEASUREMENTS: Evaluation of the overall development level was based on the Jalisco Scale for Evaluation of Overall Development, which is designed especially for socioeconomically and culturally depressed groups in Mexico. RESULTS: The average development score found in the children was 71.7, which is considered moderately low according to the 3 classification levels of adequate, moderately low, and low. Only 30.4% of the children achieved scores in the adequate category. All the children are considered to live in a high-risk psychosocial environment, which explains the low scores in overall development as evaluated. CONCLUSIONS: Differences were observed in some variables within the uniformly low social level of the subjects studied. These differences could be considered as an indication of greater risk within a group that is already high-risk. In cases of overall development that is very low, mothers do not perceive that children have any problems at the time the study is being conducted. This could imply that these mothers do not respond proactively to community education and/or health programs that focus on early intervention.