A significant percentage of Mexican-American children who matched their white counterparts in cognitive growth at 9 months of age had fallen behind by the time they turned 2, says a recent study from the University of California, Berkeley.
The study was published in the May issue of the Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences. Bruce Fuller, a professor of education and public policy, was the lead author. The children are part of a longitudinal study of children born in 2001. About 950 Mexican-American children and 3,600 children of native-born, white mothers were included. The researchers tested children at age 2 on measures of memory, vocabulary, and rudimentary problem-solving skills.