Early childhood development

In the earliest years of life, especially from pregnancy to age three, babies need nutrition, protection and stimulation for healthy brain development. Recent advances in neuroscience provide new evidence about a baby’s brain development during this time. As a result, we know a baby’s brain is constructed through a complex interplay of rapid neural connections that begin before birth. How rapid?  In a 2016 Lancet series, Advancing Early Childhood Development: From Science to Scale, leading neuroscientists found that in their earliest years, babies’ brains grow at an astounding rate, creating up to 1,000 neural connections every second.

In the brain-building process, neural connections are shaped by genes and life experiences – namely good nutrition, protection and stimulation from talk, play and responsive attention from caregivers. This combination of nature and nurture establishes the foundation of a child’s future.  

Yet too many children are still missing out on the ‘eat, play, and love’ their brains need to develop. Put simply, we don’t care for children’s brains the way we care for their bodies.

A mix of factors determine why some children receive the nutrition, protection and stimulation they need, while others are left behind. Poverty is a common part of the equation. 250 million children under five in low- and middle-income countries risk not reaching their development potential because of extreme poverty and stunting.

Often, the most disadvantaged children are least likely to have access to the essential ingredients for healthy development. For example,  frequent or prolonged exposure to extreme stress – such as neglect and abuse – can trigger biological response systems that, without the buffer of a protective adult, create toxic stress,  a response that can interfere with brain development. As the child grows, toxic stress can portend physical, mental and behavioural problems in adulthood.

Conflict and uncertainty also play a role as children younger than five in conflict-affected areas and fragile states face elevated risks to their lives, health and wellbeing.

Oversight and inaction have a high price and long-term implications for the health, happiness and earning potential as these children become adults. They also contribute to global cycles of poverty, inequality and social exclusion.

Despite the need, early childhood programmes remain severely underfunded with lacklustre execution. Government investment in early childhood development is low. For example, in 27 sub-Saharan African countries measured, only 0.01 per cent of gross national product was spent on pre-primary education in 2012.

There is also little public understanding of the importance of a child’s first years and slight public demand for policies, programmes and funding.

Building your baby’s brain

Some key facts:

• Lack of nutrition in early childhood leads to stunting, which globally affects nearly one-in-four children younger than five.
• Risks associated with poverty – such as undernutrition and poor sanitation – can lead to developmental delays and a lack of progress in school.
• Violent discipline is widespread in many countries, and nearly 70 percent of children between two and four were yelled or screamed at in the past month.
• 300 million children younger than five have been exposed to societal violence.
• For a child in a low- or middle-income country, poor early development could mean they earn around one-quarter less in income, as an adult.
• For a country, poor early childhood development could mean economic loss; in India, the loss is about twice the gross domestic product spent on health.