Early Childhood Care and

Development: Equity from the Start

 OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION

I. What is ECCD and why is it

important
II. Status and Key Issues in
ECCD
I. What is ECCD and
Why is it Important?
 ECCD as defined in
Early Years Act of 2013

“…recognizing the age from zero (0) to eight

(8) years as the first crucial stage of
educational development..”

“….full range of health, nutrition, early

education and social services development
programs that provide for holistic needs of
0-4 y/o children….”
 Global definition of ECCD
CHILD
• Prenatal to 8 years of
age; Holistic
development – cognitive,
social, physical,
emotional, language,
spiritual, moral… Families
Communities
FAMILY
 Parenting – care, attachment, early stimulation, positive social
and emotional interactions with significant caregivers, playing,
talking, reading, singing
PROGRAMME
 A set of coordinated services and quality contexts for young
children and families implemented through systems of Health,
nutrition, education, and protection
In the 1st years of life the brain grows at the pace of 700 new
neural connections per second-- a pace which is never achieved
again

By 3 years of age, a child brain is twice as active as an adult

brain

50 - 75% of energy consumption in the first few years of life is

allocated to brain development

87% of brain weight is acquired by 3 years of age (1100 grams)

Key Message: The relationship between genes and
environment is closer than ever before
 Early Childhood
the most important
developmental phase in life
Early environmental conditions –
deprivation, stress, relationships
language – literally “sculpt” the
developing brain
 How is brain development
influenced by ECCD?
Each brain cell, a neuron,
is shaped like a tree with
branching ends, a root
system that receives
information and output
side that send
“Communication between neurons
information to the is the heart of all learning, hence
hundred neurons the importance of connections in
the brain” (Rushton and Rushton,
2009)
03-012
Synaptic Density
At Birth 6 Years Old 14 Years Old

Rethinking the Brain, Families and Work Institute, Rima Shore, 1997.
10
The unstimulated The stimulated brain
brain

A model of an A young brain rich in

unstimulated brain connections
with few interacting from stimulating
connections activities
 Nutrition: Inadequate early nutrition
undermines brain development
 In gestation and infancy, the brain is the “energy hog”
consuming bet 50-75% of all energy absorbed in the
body from food, including fats, proteins, vitamins and
minerals.

 Inadequate nutrition, during that period affects the

structure and functions of the brain in ways that its
difficult to offset later

 Undernutrition is the underlying cause of almost half

(45%) of child deaths in the world (around 34,675
Filipino children die per year due to undernutrition)
 Iodine-Sufficient Brain and Iodine-
Deficient Brain

Iodine-
sufficient brain

Iodine-
deficient brain
 Nutrition: Inadequate early nutrition
undermines brain development

 Good nutrition, health and proper care in the fist 1000

days give the best start of life-forever

 Key nutrition interventions for the first six months:

adequate nutrition and care during pregnancy; support
to exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months of life

 Stress and nutrients interact with each other, affecting

how the brain and body absorbs nutrients and influence
a child’s developmental status
Nutrition: Stunted children will not reach their
full potential.

If optimum nutrition in the FIRST

• Fails to grow and develop to full potential 1,000 DAYS has
• Mental and physical deficits- Potentially LONG TERM BENEFITS
Irreversible after 2 years of age
• Long term effects-poor cognition and learning
undernutrition in the FIRST
performance in childhood and lowered
1,000and
productivity (wage loss and income) DAYS has LONG TERM
increased risk of chronic diseases in adulthood CONSEQUENCES.

In the Philippines, 33.4% of children ages 4 years old 2 years old

0-5 years are stunted.* (stunted) (normal)

*DOST-FNRI NNS, 2015

WASTING I Acute Undernutrition

• The deadly form of undernutrition which

If optimum nutrition in the FIRST
increases risk of child deaths 1,000 DAYS has
• Children with Severe Acute Malnutrition- nine
LONG TERM BENEFITS
times more likely to die than well nourished
children undernutrition in the FIRST
• Increases risk of stunted1,000
growth,DAYS
poor has LONG TERM
cognitive development
CONSEQUENCES.

In the Philippines, 7.1% of

children ages 0-5 years are *DOST-FNRI NNS, 2015

wasted.*
 WASH: Extra food means nothing to
stunted children
• Environmental enteropathy Normal EED

– thickening of the gut wall,

which reduces surface for
absorbing nutrients
• Caused by fecal bacteria
ingested in large quantities
by young children living in
conditions of poor
sanitation and hygiene

Villi in the wall of the small intestine

How does inadequate WASH affect children?
WASH: Poor water, sanitation and hygiene
conditions undermine child development
INADEQUATE WASH
(open defecation, not handwashing with soap,
drinking unsafe water)

Fecal-oral exposure

Environmental Intestinal Worm Diarrhoeal

Enteropathy Infection Diseases

POOR NUTRITIONAL STATUS/

UNDERNUTRITION

Source: “Linking toilets to stunting” Sanitation and Stunting Conference, Delhi School of
Economics; O. Cummings LSHTM
Protection: Toxic stress and exposure to violence,
abuse and neglect during early childhood has a
lifelong impact.

• Excessive and repeated stress causes

the release of chemicals that impair
cell growth and interfere with the Healthy brain
formation of healthy neural circuits in
the brain

• Toxic stress can damage the brain's

stress response system and contribute
to premature ageing of the body Abused brain
 CORTISOL and TOXIC STRESS

 Disrupts healthy
development of
Increase the brain, affecting
Excessive production health, learning,
and of hormone and behavior
repeated
stress
called  Undermines the
CORTISOL ability of the body
to absorb
nutrients, so
potentially
exacerbating
malnutrition
Health: Healthy positive interactions between
infants and mothers have a two generational
effect
In mothers,
Strong early encourage
attachment and Release of longer
interactions OXYTOCIN
between infant breastfeeding
and mothers

Provides stimulation
and nurturing, Supports better
further nutrition of
strengthening the young children
bond between child
and mothers
 OXYTOCIN and BREASTFEEDING

Stimulation of the nipples

results in oxytocin release and
milk let-down, thus encourages
and allows the mothers longer
breastfeeding
Other Interesting facts/effects of 0XYTOCIN
 Tend to be higher during socially bonding
moments. It creates feelings of calm and closeness
 Improves social skills
 Crystalizes emotional memories
 Eases stress
 Solidifies relationship
 Promotes attachment
 Fosters generosity
 Induces sleep
 Triggers protective instincts
 Reduces cravings for prohibitive drugs
Early and Lifelong Learning: Early stimulation
and interaction with parents and caregivers
jumpstart the journey of brain development –
and a lifetime learning

 Nurturing, stimulating interaction between young

children and their parents and caregivers
positively and permanently strengthens the
ability to LEARN – and may change brain function
for life
Early and Lifelong Learning: Early childhood
learning lasts a lifetime - and yields broad
dividends
The returns on
investment to ECCD is up
to 18% - much higher
than rates of return of
other levels of education
(Nobel Laureate James
Heckman)
…. but there is current mismatch between
opportunity and investment in ECCD…
Parenting
 How children are parented or cared for in the first
years of their lives can affect brain function for the
rest of their lives– and may even effect future
generations

 Adequate nutrition and consistent, supportive adult

caregiving are the best way to offset the effects of
multiple adversity and to support healthy brain
development
Caring Adults can Prevent or Reverse
the Effects of Toxic Stress
• Refrain from abuse
• Refrain from neglect
• Be responsive to
children
• Help to calm children
• Talk with children
• Play with children
 Why Parenting?: Cognitive and Social
emotional Development
• Supportive parenting is among the
strongest predictors of school
performance during primary school
and beyond.
• Talking, singing and playing with
children teaches them words. A big
vocabulary is essential to school
success.
• Showing children warmth helps them
develop their social emotional skills,
key to adult outcomes.
• Parental beliefs and expectations are
provide strong links between maternal
education achievement and child
learning outcomes.
30
Parenting provides nurturing care and
protection
• Protect children from violence
• Ensure children are healthy
and nourished
• Nurture children’s cognitive
and social development by
talking and playing with
children and responding to
them
• Socialize children with
opportunities to develop
cultural and personal
identities
Platforms for Parenting Programmes in
ECD
• Health systems provide an
entry point for ECD
parenting programmes
• Home visits are most
effective for high risk
families
• Group programmes are
highly effective overall
• Effectiveness of programmes
hinge on the capacity of
service providers- invest in
training and supervision
Key Message: Timing matters - early intervention is
the answer
• Good nutrition at the right time to
feed and nourish the architecture of
the brain during the sensitive periods
of development.
• Proper sanitation and hygiene
practice to ensure optimal mental
and physical development and
prevent stunting
• Stimulation and enrichment to spark
neural connections across multiple
regions of the brain to increase the
brain’s capacity and function.
“interventions that happen
when the brain is plastic are • Safety and protection to buffer
very effective” against stress and allow absorption of
nutrition and growth of brains cells.
A child with such an Inter-related brain is going to need
coordinated, multi-sectoral actions!
 Benefits of ECCD
 ECCD is a cost-effective strategy to promote
children’s success in school and life

Children who attend quality ECCD:

 are more ready to learn when they start in school;
 are less likely to repeat grades or drop-out of school;
 perform better in school; and
 become productive members of the community
 Benefits of ECCD (cont..)

 Returns of investment to ECCD is up to 18% -much

higher than rates of returns of other levels of education

 ECCD interventions benefit the poorest and most

disadvantaged children the most even though they are
the least likely to have access to ECCD

 Therefore, the impact of ECCD is not only limited to

childhood per se but influences the entire LIFE !