Objective

The need to build public health systems that ensure comprehensive child development enables a characterization of the factors that favor or restrict the integral development of children under the age of six. That is in order to identify them as necessary components to be taken into account in public policies.

Method

A survey was carried out with 1 177 mothers or family caregivers of children under six years old in 16 municipalities of Cundinamarca and Boyacá, and the respective socio-cognitive development of their own sons and daughters was measured with the Haizea-Llevant table and also tasks related to the use of core knowledge systems.

Results

Through bivariate and multivariate statistical analyzes, it was found that the factors that are significant to address a public health proposal that seeks the integral development of children under six years of age are: socio-economic conditions of households, complications in childbirth, the starting age of solid foods, mothers' working shifts, rules on daily routines and play practices such as reading, painting and sport activities.

Conclusions

A health system that acknowledges the results presented should offer specialized care that seeks welfare in childhood and early childhood, which can only be achieved if health policies begin to consider domestic and daily factors that cannot be excluded from public policies and it should guarantee different levels of intervention of social and particular impact.