Study of the motor development of children in the first year of life exposed to environmental pollutants.

Neuromotor development begins at conception and is influenced by child neurological, behavioral, cognitive and environmental maturation. Its adequate outcome allows children to respond to the demands imposed by life in society and individual needs considering their environmental context (FIGUEIRAS, 2005; SILVA et al, 2015).

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), enabling adequate child development is essential for more children and communities to thrive. In 2016, the WHO provided data on more than 200 million children under 5 years of age that they did not reach their developmental potential due to multifactorial causes and suggested environmental causes as an important factor for a negative outcome (BLACK et al, 2016; BRITTO et al, 2016, WHO, 2018).

The present study is part of the PIPA project, a prospective longitudinal study, investigating the effect of environmental pollutants on children’s health and how this can be influenced by genetic inheritance and living conditions. A birth cohort that focuses on environmental pollutants is required to investigate the relationships between environmental exposures, perinatal factors, and long-term effects (LANDRIGAN; BAKER, 2015; GOLDING et al, 2009).