Desarrollo de la independencia en la vida diaria en niños entre 3 y 6 años

Résumé

Intervention and promotion of the infant development need to be grounded on an assessment process adjusted to the child context. It is said that children are decreasingly autonomous and that they are not able to assume simple tasks related with their self-care, nevertheless these assumptions are not always supported on systematic evaluations. Purpose: To study the functional Independence level performance of the activities of daily living in children from 3 to 6 year-old. Methods: It is used the self-care scale of the pediatric Evaluation Disability Inventory (PEDI). The scale has 73 items which assess different aspects related to food textures, use of utensils, use of drinking containers, tooth brushing, hair brushing, hand, body and face washing, toileting task, and management of bladder and bowel. Data has been collected in a not-randomized sample. The final sample was comprised of 199 children recruited from 4 nursery schools in Burgos. Parents were interviewed about their children´s performance. Results: The independence level achieved by the children assessed, shows that this level does not follow an ascendant growth, but instead it is stabilized as the children grow, or indeed, this level decreases according to parent´s report. Conclusion: It is necessary to continue developing studies which uses standardized and validated tools in Spain and which can confirm these results. Meanwhile it is necessary to sensitize parents and teachers to promote the children independency in order to contribute to a good development.