Childhood in Brazil through the ages

Children cover their eyes to play a game of Find the Tree (Encontre a Árvore), one of the ecological activities on offer at the Villa-Lobos Park in São Paulo's Alto de Pinheiros neighborhood.

Children have fun ignoring a No Fishing sign next to an overflowing manhole in an alleyway off Relíquia Street, in the neighborhood of Casa Verde in São Paulo's North Zone.

Children wait in Rio de Janeiro's Mangueira Olympic Village for a visit from President Bill Clinton. The US president was welcomed in front of 2,000 guests by ex-footballer Pelé, who was minister for sports in Fernando Henrique Cardoso's government at the time.

A health professional in São Paulo vaccinates a child against meningitis. In the 1970s, Brazil experienced its third and worst outbreak of the disease, with the city of São Paulo being the worst affected.

A youngster takes part in a wooden soapbox race in Santana's Jardim São Bento, in São Paulo. In the 1980s, as suburban roads in Greater São Paulo were paved, soapbox racing became increasingly popular in the state.

Children in wheelchairs take part in the 19th São Silvestrinha race on a stretch of the athletics track at São Paulo's Ícaro de Castro Mello Stadium, also known as the Ibirapuera Olympic Stadium.

An Indigenous child from the Yanomami reserve poses for a photo in the city of Boa Vista in Roraima State. On that same day, the then National Indian Foundation (FUNAI), now the National Indigenous People Foundation, announced the massacre of at least 19 Indigenous people from the reserve, near the border between Brazil and Venezuela.

Children play in Rui Barbosa Street in the central São Paulo district of Bela Vista, on yet another day of heavy downpours.

Yawalapiti (or Jaulapiti) children play in a village in the Xingu Indigenous Park in southern Mato Grosso State, in the area of Brazil known as the Legal Amazon (Amazônia Legal).

This image was used to illustrate a report on a study, carried out in Spain, that warned of the potential consequences of frequently watching TV, including attention deficit and increased aggressiveness in children.

Youngsters chasing after their kite climb a wall at the Dr. Leite Lopes State Airport, in Ribeirão Preto in São Paulo State.

Brothers Anderson and Marcelo Isaias da Silva and their friend Nelson Lima play marbles in the street in the Heliópolis favela, in São Paulo's Southwest Zone.

Children have fun in the lake at Dr. Fernando de Freitas Monteiro da Silva Park, in the Jardim Nova Aliança neighborhood of Ribeirão Preto, an inland city in São Paulo State.

When his parents go out to work every morning, this little boy goes to nursery on the back of his grandfather's bicycle. In the early 1970s, the city of São Paulo only had one nursery place for every 100 families.