This book presents a comprehensive review of empirical research on early childhood education and human development in Latin America. Commissioned in 1976 by the Office of Latin America and the Caribbean, part of the International Division of the Ford Foundation, New York, the study was two-faceted. First, researchers were instructed to review documents on the relationships between intervention strategies and malnutrition, sociocultural settings, mental development, and behavior. Second, researchers were instructed to conduct an in-depth field study of the development of policy and programs in at least two Latin American countries. Chapters I to V of the book include a literature review of documents from five of the seven Andean countries (Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela), as well as Mexico, Jamaica, and Guatemala. Included in these chapters are a general overview and description of the magnitude of the poverty problem in South America; the relationship between poverty and young children's cognitive development, and malnutrition and brain functioning; a review of four intervention programs that have operated in Latin America within the past 10 years; and descriptions of selected community programs for infants and preschool children that have operated or are operating in Chile, Colombia, and Peru. Three case studies based on direct field observations in Puno (Peru), Antioquia (Colombia), and Caracas (Venezuela) are presented in Chapters VI-VIII. The case studies provide in-depth descriptions of the nutritional, educational, and health needs of young children in these places, the development of policy for young children, and existing intervention programs. Finally, specific conclusions based on the review of child development and early childhood intervention programs in Latin America are discussed in Chapter IX. (Author/MP)