Prosperity of children, families, nations threatened by disparities in early childhood development

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/uomm-poc100516.php

Public Release: 4-Oct-2016
Prosperity of children, families, nations threatened by disparities in early childhood development
International study led by University of Maryland School of Medicine researcher underscores the need for global action to address disparities
University of Maryland Medical Center

A staggeringly high proportion -- 43 percent or 250 million -- of children under age five and living in low- and middle-income countries may not reach their developmental potential due to poverty and chronic under nutrition, according to the latest series on early child development, Advancing Early Childhood Development, published today in The Lancet.

"New evidence presented in this Series underscores how influential the early years of life, especially for children under three, are on subsequent health and development," says the lead author of the first paper in the Series and steering committee member Maureen Black, PhD, the John A. Scholl, MD and Mary Louise Scholl, MD Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM). "Not just for individual children, but for their children and subsequent generations."

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poverty and adverse childhood experiences have long-term physiological and epigenetic effects on brain development and cognition, thereby negatively impacting adult health and well-being.

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poverty and adverse childhood experiences have long-term physiological and epigenetic effects on brain development and cognition, thereby negatively impacting adult health and well-being.

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Additional key findings include:

The accumulation of adversities, beginning prior to conception and continuing throughout prenatal and early life, can disrupt brain development, attachment, and early learning. Development delays are evident in the first year, worsening during early childhood and continue throughout life.

Coordination, monitoring, and evaluation are needed across sectors to ensure that high quality early childhood development services are available throughout early childhood and primary school.

Action at global, national, and local levels is needed to increase political commitment to and investment in early childhood development.

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