Who is early childhood

Its interventions address four developmental domains of a growing child - physical, cognitive, linguistic and socio-emotional development. Children from poorer and marginalised homes who are unable to access support are put at a distinct disadvantage. Developmental differences between those children who have what they need for healthy brains and bodies and those who do not can show up as early as nine months old.

The impacts of inadequate care, nutrition and cognitive stimulation during these early months and years can last a lifetime. Critical for young children is access to health care, starting with ante- and postnatal visits for pregnant women, a skilled birth attendant, and including vaccinations, treatment of chronic and acute illness, and routine check ups.

Nutrition and health interventions go hand-in-hand with support for water and sanitation, which safeguards good nutrition and prevents deadly bacterial infection. These interventions include access to clean drinking water, hand washing practises, toilet facilities and proper disposal of diapers.

Opportunities for play and early learning are just as important to healthy development as physical support. This brief summarizes the science of resilience and explains why understanding it will help us design policies and programs that enable more children to reach their full potential.

Understanding how important early experiences and relationships are to lifelong development is one step in supporting children and families. The next step is to apply that knowledge to current practices and policies. This section provides practical ways that practitioners and policymakers can support ECD and improve outcomes for children and families. This report synthesizes 15 years of dramatic advances in the science of early childhood and early brain development and presents a framework for driving science-based innovation in early childhood policy and practice.

Understanding how the experiences children have starting at birth, even prenatally, affect lifelong outcomes—as well as the core capabilities adults need to thrive—provides a strong foundation upon which policymakers and civic leaders can design a shared and more effective agenda.

Getting the foundations right carries huge future benefits: better learning in school and higher educational attainment, which results in major social and economic gains for society.

In South Asia, only half its children attend early learning programmes. South Asia has one of the highest rates of stunting with nearly 2 out of every 5 children being stunted. Research shows that malnutrition in early childhood is linked to reduced learning potential and poor cognitive and emotional development in children.

This, in turn, affects their school enrolment, participation, and retention. For children to achieve their full potential, as is their human right , they need health care and nutrition, protection from harm and a sense of security, opportunities for early learning, and responsive caregiving — like talking, singing and playing — with parents and caregivers who love them.

All of this is needed to nourish developing brains and fuel growing bodies. Millions of children are not receiving the nutrition or health care they need, growing up exposed to violence, polluted environments and extreme stress. They miss out on opportunities to learn and are deprived of the stimulation that their developing brains need to thrive.

Their parents and caregivers struggle to get the time, resources and services necessary to provide their children with nurturing care in these contexts. When children miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, they pay the price in lost potential — dying before they have a chance to grow up, or going through life with poor physical and mental health; struggling to learn and, later, to earn a living.

And we all pay the price. Failing to give children the best start in life perpetuates cycles of poverty and disadvantage that can span generations, undermining the strength and stability of our societies. When we give children the best start in life, the benefits are huge, for every child and for the societies we share.