Child health in Latin America: historiographic perspectives and challenges

Abstract

Patterns of child health and well-being in Latin America's past--have been assumed to be delayed and derivative of European and North Americanexperiences. Through an examination of recent historiography, this essay traces a more complex reality: interest in infant and child health in Latin America arose from a range of domestic and regional prerogatives. This attention was rooted in preColumbian cultures, then relegated to the private sphere during the colonial period, except for young public wards. Starting in the 19th century, professionals, reformers, and policy-makers throughout the region regarded child health as a matter central to building modern societies. Burgeoning initiatives were also linked to international priorities and developments, not through one-way diffusion but via ongoing interaction of ideas and experts. Despite pioneering approaches to children's rights and health in Latin America, commitment to child well-being has remained uneven, constrained in many settings by problematic political and economic conditions uch.

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