Department of Pediatrics, Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi.
National Professional Officer (Newborn and Child Health), India Country Office, World Health Organization, New Delhi.
Indian Pediatr. 2021 Oct 15;58(10):962-969. Epub 2021 Jun 28.
Early childhood development (ECD) refers to the physical, motor, socio-emotional, cognitive, and linguistic development of a young child. The 'Countdown to 2030' global distribution of 'children at risk of poor development' indicates the need for urgent action and investment in ECD. Nurturing care enhances ECD, even in the presence of adversities. Strategic actions should exist at multiple levels: the family, community, health care providers and government. Previously, child health related policies and programs of the Government of India functioned in isolation, but have recently started demonstrating multi-sectoral collaboration. Nonetheless, the status of ECD in India is far from optimal. There is strong evidence that parenting programs improve outcomes related to ECD. This is dependent on key programmatic areas (timing, duration, frequency, intensity, modality, content, etc.), in addition to political will, funding, partnership, and plans for scaling up. Each country must implement its unique ECD program that is need-based and customized to their stakeholder community. Barriers like inadequate sensitization of the community and low competency of health care providers need to be overcome. IAP firmly believes that responsive parenting interventions revolving around nurturing care should be incorporated in office practice. This paper outlines IAP's position on ECD, and its recommendations for pediatricians and policy makers. It also presents the roadmap in partnership with other stakeholders in maternal, neonatal, and child health; Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI), National Neonatology Forum (NNF), World Health Organization (WHO), and United Nation Children Fund (UNICEF).
早期儿童发展（ECD）是指幼儿的身体、运动、社会情感、认知和语言发展。“倒计时 2030”全球分布的“发展不良风险儿童”表明，需要紧急行动和投资于 ECD。培育关怀可以促进 ECD，即使在存在逆境的情况下也是如此。战略行动应该存在于多个层面：家庭、社区、医疗保健提供者和政府。此前，印度政府的儿童健康相关政策和方案各自为政，但最近已开始展示多部门合作。尽管如此，印度的 ECD 状况远非理想。有强有力的证据表明，育儿方案可以改善与 ECD 相关的结果。这取决于关键的方案领域（时间、持续时间、频率、强度、模式、内容等），以及政治意愿、资金、伙伴关系和扩大规模的计划。每个国家都必须实施基于本国需求的、针对本国利益相关者社区的独特 ECD 方案。必须克服社区的敏感性不足和医疗保健提供者能力低下等障碍。IAP 坚信，以培育关怀为中心的响应式育儿干预措施应该纳入实践。本文概述了 IAP 对 ECD 的立场，以及它对儿科医生和政策制定者的建议。它还展示了与孕产妇、新生儿和儿童健康领域的其他利益相关者（印度妇产科学会联合会、新生儿论坛、世界卫生组织和联合国儿童基金会）合作的路线图。
