The long-term cognitive consequences of early childhood malnutrition: The case of famine in Ghana

AbstractObjectivesTo compare the long-term effects of antenatal betamethasone (ANS, ≤16 mg, =24 mg and >24 mg) in twins on infant and childhood growth.MethodsA retrospective cohort follow up study among 198 twins after ANS including three time points: U1 first neonatal examination after birth and in the neonatal period; U7 examination from the 21st to the 24th month of life and U9 examination from the 60th to the 64th month of life using data from copies of the children’s examination booklets. Inclusion criteria are twin pregnancies with preterm labor, cervical shortening, preterm premature rupture of membranes, or vaginal bleeding, and exposure to ANS between 23+5 and 33+6 weeks. Outcome measures are dosage-dependent and sex-specific effects of ANS on growth (body weight, body length, head circumference, body mass index and ponderal index) up to 5.3 years.ResultsOverall, 99 live-born twin pairs were included. Negative effects of ANS on fetal growth persisted beyond birth, altered infant and childhood growth, independent of possible confounding factors. Overall weight percentile significantly decreased between infancy and early childhood by 18.8%. Birth weight percentiles significantly changed in a dose dependent and sex specific manner, most obviously in female-female and mixed pairs. The ponderal index significantly decreased up to 42.9%, BMI index increased by up to 33.8%.ConclusionsANS results in long-term alterations in infant and childhood growth. Changes between infancy and early childhood in ponderal mass index and BMI, independent of dose or twin pair structure, might indicate an ANS associated increased risk for later life disease.SynopsisFirst-time report on long-term ANS administration growth effects in twin pregnancies, showing persisting alterations beyond birth in infant and childhood growth up to 5.3 years as potential indicator of later life disease risk.

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Early childhood education: A meta-analytic affirmation of the short- and long-term benefits of educational opportunity.

School Psychology Quarterly ◽

10.1521/scpq.16.1.9.19163 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 9-30 ◽

Cited By ~ 93

Author(s):

Kevin M. Gorey

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Early Childhood Education ◽

Educational Opportunity ◽

Childhood Education ◽

Short And Long Term

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Negotiating Ethics-in-Action in a Long-term Research Relationship with a Young Child

Human Arenas ◽

10.1007/s42087-021-00216-z ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Niina Rutanen ◽

Raija Raittila ◽

Kaisa Harju ◽

Yaiza Lucas Revilla ◽

Maritta Hännikäinen

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Young Child ◽

Data Collection ◽

Critical Incidents ◽

Relational Ethics ◽

Spatial Context ◽

Childhood Education ◽

Research Relationship ◽

Education And Care

AbstractThis article continues the discussions of relational ethics put forward in Human Arenas in “Arena of Ethics” (Hilppö et al., 2019). Our aim in this article is to explore and discuss relational ethics, as ethics-in-action, in a long-term research relationship with a child. Our question is: How is ethics-in-action negotiated during critical incidents in the construction of a research space that involves a long-term research relationship with a young child? This article is based on a research project that focused on children’s transitions in early childhood education and care (ECEC). These transitions include the transition from home care to ECEC as well as transitions from child groups or settings to other ECEC groups or settings, and the transition to pre-primary education. We apply a particular lens to the corpus of data, analyzing and reflecting critical incidents vis-à-vis a negotiation of ethics-in-action during the construction of our research space, which involved a long-term research relationship with a child. Our results show that critical incidents in our study’s negotiation of ethics-in-action included (a) the focus child’s spontaneous contributions to the study’s interviews, (b) interdependencies between the child and diverse researchers, and (c) the child’s evolving expertise in data collection, which restructured our study’s research space. We conclude that ethical questions cannot be separated from the mutually constituted relationships or socio-spatial context in where they emerge; thus, they are relationally and spatially embedded.

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Promoting Developmental Potential in Early Childhood: A Global Framework for Health and Education

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18042007 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 2007

Author(s):

Verónica Schiariti ◽

Rune J. Simeonsson ◽

Karen Hall

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Developmental Trajectories ◽

Well Being ◽

Early Years ◽

Early Child Development ◽

Developmental Potential ◽

Developmental Functioning ◽

Global Cycles ◽

Global Initiatives

In the early years of life, children’s interactions with the physical and social environment- including families, schools and communities—play a defining role in developmental trajectories with long-term implications for their health, well-being and earning potential as they become adults. Importantly, failing to reach their developmental potential contributes to global cycles of poverty, inequality, and social exclusion. Guided by a rights-based approach, this narrative review synthesizes selected studies and global initiatives promoting early child development and proposes a universal intervention framework of child-environment interactions to optimize children’s developmental functioning and trajectories.

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Bildungsgerechtigkeit in der Krise: Welche potenziellen Auswirkungen hat die Corona-Pandemie auf die frühe Bildung?

Sozialer Fortschritt ◽

10.3790/sfo.70.7-8.419 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 70 (7-8) ◽

pp. 419-435

Author(s):

Susanne Lochner ◽

Katharina Kopp

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Ad Hoc ◽

Educational Inequality ◽

Educational Equality ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Childhood Education ◽

Care Facilities ◽

Frühe Bildung ◽

The One

Die Maßnahmen zur Eindämmung der Covid-19-Pandemie trafen Familien mit kleinen Kindern besonders hart: Ausgangsbeschränkungen, die Abriegelung von Spielplätzen und allem voran die Schließungen von Kinderbetreuungseinrichtungen stellten nicht nur den familiären Alltag auf den Kopf, sondern haben möglicherweise auch langfristige Folgen für die altersgerechte Entwicklung und den Kompetenzerwerb von Kindern. Dieser Beitrag widmet sich der Frage, welche Auswirkungen sich aus den Einschränkungen des Kita-Betriebs in der Corona-Pandemie auf die Bildungsgerechtigkeit in der frühen Kindheit ergeben können. Da keine vergleichbaren historischen Ereignisse zur Prognose von potenziellen Auswirkungen herangezogen werden können, werden zum einen die Ergebnisse von Wirksamkeitsstudien zu institutionalisierter früher Bildung aufbereitet und zum anderen erste Befunde aus ad-hoc Erhebungen des ersten Lockdowns im Frühjahr 2020 analysiert. Bilanzierend werden aus den Befunden mögliche kurz-, mittel- und langfristige Auswirkungen abgeleitet, die Bildungsungerechtigkeit bereits in der frühen Kindheit verstärken können. Abstract: Educational Equality in the Crisis: What Impact does the Corona Pandemic have on Early Childhood Education? The actions taken to contain the Covid-19 pandemic hit families with young children particularly hard. Social restrictions, the closure of playgrounds and, above all, the lockdown of day-care facilities did not only turn everyday family life upside down, but could also have long-term consequences for child development and acquisition of skills. This article is devoted to the question of what effects the measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic can have on educational equality in early childhood. Since no comparable historical events can be used to forecast potential impacts, the results of efficacy studies on institutionalized early education are reported on the one hand and initial findings from ad-hoc surveys conducted during the first lockdown in spring 2020 are analyzed on the other. The findings suggest short, middle and long-term effects of the corona measures taken that can intensify educational inequality in early childhood.

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