Measuring early childhood development with The Early Human Capability Index (eHCI): a reliability and validity study in China.

BACKGROUND: With the importance of early childhood development more recognized by the international society, low-cost and cross-culturally comparable measures of early childhood development is in great demand, both in China and worldwide. In this study, we aim to test the psychometrics of the Chinese version of The Early Human Capability Index (eHCI), which is designed as a measurement for school readiness in large population. METHODS: We evaluated the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, inter-rater reliability, factor structure, criterion-related validity, and discriminant validity of the eHCI in 20,324 preschool children in Shanghai. We also compared eHCI scores with test result of ASQ in 815 children in Yexian and EAP-ECDS in 6947 children in Daming. RESULTS: The ICC between parents and teachers were 0.83 and 0.63 for Literacy Numeracy and Overall Development. The confirmatory factor analyses showed good model fit (χ2 = 509,323, p < 0.001; CFI = 0.901; RMSEA = 0.038). The correlations between the scores of eHCI and other ECD metrics ranged between r = - 0.42 and r = 0.53. The scale discriminated between children's developmental level based on sex, parental education, family income, family assets, and nutrition status. CONCLUSIONS: Results from Chinese population suggested that eHCI is valid and reliable for measuring early childhood development in children aged 3-6 years. The eHCI can be applied to map the global distribution of early childhood development for allocating scarce resources to help those in greatest demand. Longitudinal studies are warranted to test its predictive validity for later outcomes.

State of Early Child Development Research, Practice, and Policy for Most Vulnerable Children: A Global Perspective.

Interventions to enhance development of children ages 0-6 have profound benefits for children, families, and societies. The benefits are well documented, recognized internationally, and supportive of policies and programs targeting early child development (ECD). Intervening in the early years is a critical first step toward alleviating poverty, reducing inequality, and ensuring a productive workforce for the global economy. The challenges presented by the almost 250 million at-risk children in low- and middle-income countries and the main obstacles to investing in ECD demand a paradigm shift in social policy and an action agenda integrated with the world's sustainable development goals for 2030. There are four main tasks and three essential building blocks for ECD action.

Impact of nutritional supplements on cognitive development of children in developing countries: A meta-analysis.

Nutritional supplements may be important on cognition but the evidence is heterogeneous. This meta-analysis aimed (1) to determine whether nutritional supplements provided to pregnant women or young children could improve cognitive development of children in developing countries, and (2) to explore how supplementation characteristics could improve children's cognitive outcomes. This meta-analysis examined nutritional supplementation studies in 9 electronic databases and 13 specialist websites. Experimental studies were included if they were published from 1992 to 2016, were conducted in developing countries, had nutritional supplementation for pregnant women or children aged ≤8, and reported effect sizes on cognitive outcomes. Interventions with confounded components, such as stimulation and parenting, were excluded. 67 interventions (48 studies) for 29814 children from 20 developing countries were evaluated. Childhood nutritional supplementation could improve children's cognitive development (d 0.08, 95% CI 0.03-0.13) and those with ≥5 nutrients was particularly beneficial (0.15, 0.08-0.22). Antenatal supplementation did not improve cognitive development (0.02, -0.01 to 0.06) except for those implemented in the first trimester (0.15, 0.03-0.28). In conclusion, childhood nutritional supplementation was beneficial to cognitive development but could be optimised by providing multiple nutrients; antenatal supplementation should target pregnancy women in the first trimester for better cognitive benefits.

Parental restriction reduces the harmful effects of in-bedroom electronic devices.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether school readiness could be affected by placing electronic devices (EDs) in children's bedroom and whether the relationship was moderated by parental restriction and family socioeconomic status (SES). DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional study with bedroom ED placement and parental restriction reported by parents. Multiple linear regressions were used to test the relationship between school readiness and ED placement. Multiple regression with interaction terms were used to test whether the effect was consistent with and without parental restriction. SETTING: Kindergartens randomly selected from two districts of different socioeconomic backgrounds in Hong Kong, China. PATIENTS: 556 young children attending the third year of kindergarten. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Children's school readiness was rated by teachers using the Chinese Early Development Instrument. RESULTS: 556 preschoolers (mean age 5.46; 51.8% girls) from 20 kindergartens participated in this study. About 30% of parents placed at least one ED in their children's bedroom. After controlling for sex and SES, the placement of television in the bedroom was associated with lower overall school readiness (ß -1.11, 95% CI -1.80 to -0.42) and the placement of game console was associated with lower social competence (ß-0.94, 95% CI -1.74 to -0.15). Such harmful effect was more prominent among lower SES families and could be partially alleviated with parental restriction. CONCLUSION: ED placement in children's bedroom was associated with lower school readiness, particularly among lower SES families. Parental restriction might help to alleviate the harm.

Do desenvolvimento da primeira infância ao desenvolvimento humano: investindo no futuro de nossas crianças

título original: From early child development to human development: investing in our children's future.(AU)

Strategies to avoid the loss of developmental potential in more than 200 million children in the developing world.

This paper is the third in the Child Development Series. The first paper showed that more than 200 million children under 5 years of age in developing countries do not reach their developmental potential. The second paper identified four well-documented risks: stunting, iodine deficiency, iron deficiency anaemia, and inadequate cognitive stimulation, plus four potential risks based on epidemiological evidence: maternal depression, violence exposure, environmental contamination, and malaria. This paper assesses strategies to promote child development and to prevent or ameliorate the loss of developmental potential. The most effective early child development programmes provide direct learning experiences to children and families, are targeted toward younger and disadvantaged children, are of longer duration, high quality, and high intensity, and are integrated with family support, health, nutrition, or educational systems and services. Despite convincing evidence, programme coverage is low. To achieve the Millennium Development Goals of reducing poverty and ensuring primary school completion for both girls and boys, governments and civil society should consider expanding high quality, cost-effective early child development programmes.

Desarrollo Infantil Temprano: lecciones de los programas no formales / Early child development: lessons from non-formal programs

El artículo empieza mencionando al aporte de las ciencias al conocimiento del desarrollo humano. Se sintetiza el trabajo de Shonkoff/Phillips sobre el tema, resaltándose la importancia de la experiencia temprana y su interacción con la biología para el desarrollo del cerebro.Posteriormente se incursiona en el Desarrollo Infantil Temprano y su significación en los resultados posteriores del niño, destacando algunos factores que inciden en el desarrollo cerebral. Este tema se enlaza con el trabajo de Shore, que compara las teorías del “viejo” y el “nuevo” pensamiento.Seguidamente se resaltan los efectos de las intervenciones tempranas, vinculando el tema al desarrollo del cerebro, y ampliándolo en el capítulo de la competencia social, en el que presentan cifras estadísticas que reflejan en parte las hipótesis.Luego se propone la vinculación de las investigaciones a los programas, y basándose en un trabajo inédito de Kirpal, se enumeran algunas lecciones aprendidas, con énfasis en la necesidad de la participación de la comunidad para generar pertenencia y sostenibilidad en los programas. Después se entra al tema de la sociedad civil y su participación en el desarrollo de los programas, resaltándose las virtudes de las ONGs y el papel que pueden desempeñar en la búsqueda de soluciones a los problemas sociales.Se continúa con la experiencia de programas no formales de educación inicial en América Latina y El Caribe, en los que se destaca la participación de la sociedad civil; luego se detallan los principios que rigen los programas no formales, mediante una matriz en la que se indican determinadas prácticas que corresponden a ciertas metas. Para concluir, se reafirma que el Desarrollo Infantil Temprano es esencial en la lucha contra la pobreza