Abstract
In the early years of life, children’s interactions with the physical and social environment- including families, schools and communities—play a defining role in developmental trajectories with long-term implications for their health, well-being and earning potential as they become adults. Importantly, failing to reach their developmental potential contributes to global cycles of poverty, inequality, and social exclusion. Guided by a rights-based approach, this narrative review synthesizes selected studies and global initiatives promoting early child development and proposes a universal intervention framework of child-environment interactions to optimize children’s developmental functioning and trajectories.
Highlights
Access to health and education services, are essential factors for optimal development, functioning and well-being of the child, factors paralleling the development, functioning and well-being of family, community, and society
Limited or deprived access to health services and education significantly challenges the development of children, as well as the development of families and communities, restricting their developmental potential for school and work
Recognition of the parallel between the development of the child and the development of families and communities has served as the basis for national and global initiatives in health and education in recent decades exemplified by Education for All, the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), and the Sustainable Development
Summary
Access to health and education services, are essential factors for optimal development, functioning and well-being of the child, factors paralleling the development, functioning and well-being of family, community, and society. Documentation of child-environment developmental risk factors has made a great contribution to our understanding of modifiable risk factors, there is a need for a universal framework promoting early child development in low-, middle- and higherincome countries across the health and education sectors, that could guide assessments and interventions as the children grow and develop globally. We synthesized Initiatives addressing environmental factors influencing children’s development, as well as prevalence and estimates of children at risk for developmental delay or loss of developmental potential in low-, middle- and high-income countries. Limitations of this approach are addressed in the paper. Promotion of children’s development: assessment and intervention in health and education
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