Early Childhood Development Coming of Age: Science Through the Life Course

Overview

Journal Lancet

Publisher Elsevier

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2016 Oct 9

PMID 27717614

Citations 805

Authors

Maureen M Black

Susan P Walker

Lia C H Fernald

Christopher T Andersen

Ann M DiGirolamo

Chunling Lu

Dana C McCoy

Gunther Fink

Yusra R Shawar

Jeremy Shiffman

Amanda E Devercelli

Quentin T Wodon

Emily Vargas-Baron

Sally Grantham-McGregor

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Early childhood development programmes vary in coordination and quality, with inadequate and inequitable access, especially for children younger than 3 years. New estimates, based on proxy measures of stunting and poverty, indicate that 250 million children (43%) younger than 5 years in low-income and middle-income countries are at risk of not reaching their developmental potential. There is therefore an urgent need to increase multisectoral coverage of quality programming that incorporates health, nutrition, security and safety, responsive caregiving, and early learning. Equitable early childhood policies and programmes are crucial for meeting Sustainable Development Goals, and for children to develop the intellectual skills, creativity, and wellbeing required to become healthy and productive adults. In this paper, the first in a three part Series on early childhood development, we examine recent scientific progress and global commitments to early childhood development. Research, programmes, and policies have advanced substantially since 2000, with new neuroscientific evidence linking early adversity and nurturing care with brain development and function throughout the life course.

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