title: Early childhood development coming of age: science through the life course.
abstract: Early childhood development programmes vary in coordination and quality, with inadequate and inequitable access, especially for children younger than 3 years. New estimates, based on proxy measures of stunting and poverty, indicate that 250 million children (43%) younger than 5 years in low-income and middle-income countries are at risk of not reaching their developmental potential. There is therefore an urgent need to increase multisectoral coverage of quality programming that incorporates health, nutrition, security and safety, responsive caregiving, and early learning. Equitable early childhood policies and programmes are crucial for meeting Sustainable Development Goals, and for children to develop the intellectual skills, creativity, and wellbeing required to become healthy and productive adults. In this paper, the first in a three part Series on early childhood development, we examine recent scientific progress and global commitments to early childhood development. Research, programmes, and policies have advanced substantially since 2000, with new neuroscientific evidence linking early adversity and nurturing care with brain development and function throughout the life course.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; RTI International, Research Park, NC, USA. Electronic address: mblack@peds.umaryland.edu.
authors.forename: Maureen M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Black
authors.affiliation: Caribbean Institute for Health Research, University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica.
authors.forename: Susan P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.affiliation: Division of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Lia C H
authors.initials: LCH
authors.lastname: Fernald
authors.affiliation: Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.affiliation: Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Ann M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: DiGirolamo
authors.affiliation: Division of Global Health Equity, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Chunling
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Harvard Graduate School of Education, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Dana C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: McCoy
authors.affiliation: Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Günther
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fink
authors.affiliation: School of Social Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Yusra R
authors.initials: YR
authors.lastname: Shawar
authors.affiliation: American University, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shiffman
authors.affiliation: World Bank Group, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Amanda E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Devercelli
authors.affiliation: World Bank Group, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Quentin T
authors.initials: QT
authors.lastname: Wodon
authors.affiliation: The Rise Institute, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vargas-Barón
authors.affiliation: Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Grantham-McGregor
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena / Q000502:physiology; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D003906:Developing Countries; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006130:Growth Disorders; D006801:Humans; D011203:Poverty; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D012307:Risk Factors