Cape Town - World Health Organisation (WHO) and Unicef leaders are urging all countries to pay more attention to the development of children’s brains in the first 1 000 days of life, from conception.
In a paper published in the international journal The Lancet, Unicef executive director Anthony Lake and WHO director-general Dr Margaret Chan say: “The debate between nature and nurture as determinants of early child development is over.
“Today, we understand that the two are inextricably linked. The degree of their interdependence – and the impact of this interplay on the developing brains of children – is even greater than we previously imagined.”
The past 25 years had seen “substantial progress in child survival”. The global community could now “build on those gains by focusing new effort and attention not only on saving children’s lives, but also on supporting the healthy development of their brains”.
Sherri Lemottee, programme leader at NGO Ilifa Labantwana, says our understanding of how early experiences influence the brain has shed light on “parenting and the difference parents can make, especially in resource-poor communities”. She says effective parenting and nurturing care can mitigate some socio-economic disadvantages by building resilience.
Is South Africa responding to this scientific knowledge?
According to David Harrison, chief executive of the DG Murray Trust, which supports many early childhood development projects, such development is not only vital for educational achievement but for adult health, wealth and social well-being.
“We also know that our very DNA is primed in the first 1 000 days of life to be able to thrive – or to toughen us up just to survive if our earliest experiences are tough. We know nutritional and early learning programmes work.
“South Africa has started to build this knowledge into its early childhood development policy and programmes.”
According to Sihle Ngobese, spokesman for the Western Cape Department of Social Development, South Africa’s adherence to international standards of early childhood development is evident from its having formulated and implemented appropriate legislation.
“As it relates to norms and standards, the Children’s Act 38 of 2005, which is national legislation, can be viewed as being in line and in many instances exceeding international trends, especially as it relates to its progressive provisions for children.”
Globally, too, more attention is being given to early childhood development as neuroscience spells out what happens in the early years.
Cape Times