By Patricia Jara. Significant advances in research and evaluation have exponentially expanded our understanding of child development. Using this knowledge to improve resource management and service provision is still a huge challenge. It should be used to help restructure services so as to reduce coverage gaps in maternal and child healthcare as well as improve … [Read more...] about Comprehensive Child Development: How do We get There?
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Quality matters in child–caregiver interactions
We recently had the privilege of hosting a meeting of renowned international experts in early childcare service quality at the IDB’s office in Washington, DC, to discuss childcare quality for children ages 0-3. The group reflected on two topics that frequently come up in discussions with programs that offer childcare services in the region. Which factors define childcare … [Read more...] about Quality matters in child–caregiver interactions
Mother’s milk or formula: personal choice or collective responsibility?
By Ana Pérez Expósito. “Each month that a baby breastfeeds reduces his risk of obesity by 4%.” That was the conclusion of the presentation on nutrition and infant growth that I attended a few weeks ago at an international conference on nutrition and growth. Yet upon exiting the conference room, we were greeted by an image of a happy, healthy child advertising one of the many … [Read more...] about Mother’s milk or formula: personal choice or collective responsibility?
Inter-sectoral programs: What have we learned?
Recently, several countries in the region – Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Peru, among others – are working on broad, cross-cutting early childhood development strategies and programs. They tend to include a wide range of services, such as pre and post-natal healthcare, lactation support, complementary nutrition, child growth and development monitoring, early stimulation and … [Read more...] about Inter-sectoral programs: What have we learned?
A preview of three important studies on early childhood development
By Monica Rubio. Over the past year, I’ve been following a process going on in Colombia to design and implement a comprehensive early childhood strategy called De Cero a Siempre (From Zero to Always). This strategy is based on the premise that child development and wellbeing do not automatically follow on the heels of economic growth. Rather, they are a product of a … [Read more...] about A preview of three important studies on early childhood development