By Gom Mirian
A recently launched report by the World Health OOrganisation (WHO) and United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) has highlighted the need to step up investment in nurturing care, especially in the poorest and most fragile countries, as the first years of a child’s life provide irreplicable opportunities to improve lifelong health, nutrition and well-being.
The report, which was made available by the WHO on its website on Thursday, examined the development of young children’s physical, mental and emotional health through the global nurturing care framework, a key set of guidelines.
According to WHO’s director of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing, early childhood development offers a crucial opportunity to enhance health and well-being throughout life, with effects that extend into the next generation.
“While this report shows encouraging progress, greater investment is needed in these foundational early years so that children everywhere have the best possible start for a healthy life ahead.
“A child’s early experiences have a profound impact on their overall health and development. They affect health, growth, learning, behaviour and – ultimately– adult social relationships, well-being and earnings. The period from pregnancy to the age of three is when the brain develops fastest, with over 80% of neural development happening during this time. Every child has the right to the best start in life,” said Dr Victor Aguayo, Director of Nutrition and Child Development, at UNICEF.
