Objective This article aims to provide evidence for formulating health care planning and early intervention measures by analyzing the distribution of development level of 0－3-year-old infants in Xicheng District, Beijing, and exploring the correlation between preterm delivery, gender, birthweight and development of different functional areas.

Methods Data of 541 infants and their mothers who visited the child health care department of Xicheng Women's and Children's Hospital from 2019 to 2021 were collected. The Gesell scale was used to evaluate five function areas such as gross motor, fine motor, adaptability, language and personal social interaction. The scores were compared between premature and full term infants, different genders and birthweight.

Results The rate of growth retardation in function area of adaptability among preterm infants was 68.6%, which was higher than that among full-term infants(48.0%). Premature infants were different from full-term infants in 3 function areas of gross motor, fine motor and adaptability(all P<0.05). Infants<1 years old were different from those ≥1 years old in many function areas(P<0.05). Especially in language area, the average language quotient for infants<1 years old were different from that for infants ≥1 years old (91.2 vs.66.6) among full-term infants(P<0.05). The overall developmental level of low birth weight infants was lower than that of normal birth weight infants. Boys were more likely than girls to have developmental delays in language and personal socialization function areas, but girls were more likely than boys to have developmental delays in gross motor areas (all P<0.05).

Conclusion Both full term and premature infants are risky of developmental retardation. However, preterm infants are high-risk group of developmental retardation, who needs to be paid close attention by parents, child health care doctors and the society with intensive follow-up visits and early intervention.