PURPOSE: To investigate the association between nutritional status and child language development. METHODS: The study included 34 children from four to six years and 11 months of age, enrolled in day care centers of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Children were assessed for receptive and expressive language development using the tasks of the instrument Language Development Evaluation (ADL). Nutritional screening used the weight-for-age and length/height-for-age indexes, according to the WHO's Child Growth Standards. RESULTS: Regarding language, 13 (38%) children presented alterations; and, regarding nutritional status, 26 (76%) were well-nourished, six (18%) were at nutritional risk, one (3%) was malnourished, and one (3%) was overweight. When the means for the height/age and the weight/age indexes were compared between children with and without language development impairments, no difference was found. CONCLUSION: No association was observed between nutritional status and language development in the studied children. However, the indexes height-for-age and weight-for-age tended to be lower in children with language impairment.
Nutritional status; Language; Child; Child development; Language development
