Testimony presented in this document covers (1) current initiatives in the Public Health Service agenda to promote and protect the health of mothers and infants and to implement specific prevention activities in child health; (2) key issues in outcome and prevention along the human growth line; (3) recent neuroscience research having implications for the development of cognitive processes; (4) fetal alcohol syndrome; (5) emotional development and necessary elements of preventive intervention programs; (6) research into infant mortality, low birth weight, teenage problems associated with the high incidence of pregnancy, and prenatal care; (7) low birth weight in the low income minority population; (8) historical dimensions of the role of nutrition in preventive health care and evidence linking nutrition and pregnancy outcomes; and (9) results of longitudinal studies of early childhood education concerning the cost effectiveness of early intervention. Approximately half of the text is an administrative petition to the United States Department of Health and Human Services to reduce the incidence of low birth weight and resulting infant mortality. The petition proposes remedies, provides new data on the current status of maternal and infant health, highlights results of programs proven successful in increasing birth weight and lowering infant mortality, and includes a cost analysis of providing comprehensive prenatal care to those in need. (RH)