Development and behavior screening of 4-year-old Brazilian children: prevalence and associated factors

Early identification of developmental and behavioral delays could improve child’s health in the long term. The aim was to determine the prevalence and explore the associated factors with child development and behavior. A cross-sectional study was carried out with Brazilian children aged 4 years old and their respective caregivers. Child’s development and behavior were assessed using the Brazilian screening tool version of the Survey of Well-being of Young Children. Generalized linear models were used to analyze the associations between explicative variables and outcomes. Prevalence of suspected development delay was 28.0% and behavior problems was 39.5%. Children sex, school period, daily reading, and behavior domain were associated with development domain, while sleeping time, development domain, food insecurity, and ultraprocessed food score were associated with behavior domain. It is necessary to encourage the expansion of screening instruments in daily primary health-care practice, expand professional’s specialization, and improve multisectoral integration.