Behaviour and development of stunted and nonstunted Jamaican children

In order to examine the mechanism whereby stunted children have poor develo pmental levels, we compared the behaviour of stunted (N = 78) and nonstunte d (N = 26) children aged 12 to 24 months, and examined the relationship of their behaviour to their developmental levels. The effect of nutritional su pplementation with or without psychosocial stimulation on the stunted child ren's behaviour was also examined. The children were observed at home durin g 4 days over a period of 6 months. The stunted children showed significant ly more apathy, and less enthusiasm and variety in exploring, were less hap py and more fussy. Caretakers' vocalisations to them were less warm or inst ructive. Stunted children's activity level, exploratory and happy behaviour s were predictive of change in developmental levels measured on the Griffit hs Scales, from enrolment to 12 and 24 months later. Supplementation predic ted mental age at 12 and 24 months after enrolment, however, it had no sign ificant effect on behaviour.