To develop is an important right that any child has and occurs according the relationship between genetic background and environment. Following this statement, a screening of development was done in 66 children (37 boys and 29 girls) between 2 and 3 years' old who attended 4 public day-care centers in the city of Sao Paulo. The Denver II Development Selection Test was used. The better part of the sample (62.74%) earns up to 0.5 MS (minimum salary) per capita per month. The adequacies for each development area were: personal-social(N=54; 81.8%), fine engine (N=53; 80.3%), rough engine (N=53; 8.3%) and language (N=49; 72.4%). In the language and personal-social areas the children attained the worst results, and in the rough engine the best. It is hypothesized: the language and personal-social language were prejudiced by the day-care centers' conditions (educators' schooling and the children's groups' sizes) and maybe by the familiar situation. As to the motor area, one can see children, even though small, playing in streets. The hypotheses must be proven with new researches.
Triage; Child Development; Child Day Care Centers; Pediatric Nursing; Health Promotion