“The Green Sea Yard of Varna” – the innovative project in the focus of early child development

Abstract We present an innovative approach to early child development (ECD), designated as a priority for all societies. Traditional ECD services of the Bulgarian health system are predominantly medical or pedagogical provided by GPs and nurseries. This leaves space for interdisciplinary services based on the ideas of Françoise Dolto focused on child-parent relationships. The Green Sea Yard of Varna, Bulgaria, aims at providing accessible space for early socialization of children and preventive psychosocial services by experts in ECD. The process oriented work combines: psychosocial accompaniment, social group & community work, psychoanalytic consultation with medical expertise. Specialists use direct observation, interviews, analysis of available information, hypothesis development. Questions to be answered: is there a recognized need for a space enhancing and stimulating the interaction between the three main subject in ECD child-parents-specialists; is there a need for a transitional space between the home and kindergarten enabling early child socialization; which are the most prevalent mental and behavioral problems and their earliest symptoms. For 104 working days (December 2018-February 2020), 2 000 visits of 257 children have been performed, including 400 individual consultations of 51 children at risk. Smooth adaptation to nursery was experienced by 15,5% of children. The most prevalent problems are: insufficient to lacking parent-child verbal communication; delayed speech development; aggressive behavior towards peers. The main lessons are: (1) There is a recognized by specialists, families and the community need for transitional spaces enabling children to experience first social encounters and concepts of social rules and norms; (2) the space stimulates both formal and informal quality communication between specialist and parents and mutual informal support between parents; (3) leading to a new view for the child as an autonomous person. Key messages The Green Sea Yard of Varna is the first innovative space for interdisciplinary approach to ECD, early socialization, care & prevention in our community fully applicable to other places and cultures. The project is in line with SDGs, contemporary scientific visions for the first 1000 days of a child's life and the WHO strategy for the prevention of child’s health in the family and in society.

Download Full-text

Perceived Knowledge of Early Child Development Among New and Expecting Fathers

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e636842009-001 ◽

2009 ◽

Author(s):

Heather A. Keefe ◽

Sharnail D. Bazemore ◽

Kate Farr ◽

James F. Paulson

Keyword(s):

Child Development ◽

Early Child Development ◽

Perceived Knowledge ◽

Early Child

Download Full-text

Faculty Opinions recommendation of Early child development and exposure to antiepileptic drugs prenatally and through breastfeeding: a prospective cohort study on children of women with epilepsy.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.718229710.793489382 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Selim Benbadis

Keyword(s):

Cohort Study ◽

Child Development ◽

Antiepileptic Drugs ◽

Prospective Cohort Study ◽

Prospective Cohort ◽

Early Child Development ◽

Early Child

Download Full-text

A holistic approach to promoting early child development: a cluster randomised trial of a group-based, multicomponent intervention in rural Bangladesh

BMJ Global Health ◽

10.1136/bmjgh-2020-004307 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. e004307

Author(s):

Helen O Pitchik ◽

Fahmida Tofail ◽

Mahbubur Rahman ◽

Fahmida Akter ◽

Jesmin Sultana ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Child Development ◽

Dietary Diversity ◽

Primary Caregivers ◽

Secondary Outcome ◽

Early Child Development ◽

Early Child ◽

Rural Bangladesh ◽

Cluster Randomised ◽

Adjusted Means

IntroductionIn low- and middle-income countries, children experience multiple risks for delayed development. We evaluated a multicomponent, group-based early child development intervention including behavioural recommendations on responsive stimulation, nutrition, water, sanitation, hygiene, mental health and lead exposure prevention.MethodsWe conducted a 9-month, parallel, multiarm, cluster-randomised controlled trial in 31 rural villages in Kishoreganj District, Bangladesh. Villages were randomly allocated to: group sessions (‘group’); alternating groups and home visits (‘combined’); or a passive control arm. Sessions were delivered fortnightly by trained community members. The primary outcome was child stimulation (Family Care Indicators); the secondary outcome was child development (Ages and Stages Questionnaire Inventory, ASQi). Other outcomes included dietary diversity, latrine status, use of a child potty, handwashing infrastructure, caregiver mental health and knowledge of lead. Analyses were intention to treat. Data collectors were independent from implementers.ResultsIn July–August 2017, 621 pregnant women and primary caregivers of children<15 months were enrolled (group n=160, combined n=160, control n=301). At endline, immediately following intervention completion (July–August 2018), 574 participants were assessed (group n=144, combined n=149, control n=281). Primary caregivers in both intervention arms participated in more play activities than control caregivers (age-adjusted means: group 4.22, 95% CI 3.97 to 4.47; combined 4.77, 4.60 to 4.96; control 3.24, 3.05 to 3.39), and provided a larger variety of play materials (age-adjusted means: group 3.63, 3.31 to 3.96; combined 3.81, 3.62 to 3.99; control 2.48, 2.34 to 2.59). Compared with the control arm, children in the group arm had higher total ASQi scores (adjusted mean difference in standardised scores: 0.39, 0.15 to 0.64), while in the combined arm scores were not significantly different from the control (0.25, –0.07 to 0.54).ConclusionOur findings suggest that group-based, multicomponent interventions can be effective at improving child development outcomes in rural Bangladesh, and that they have the potential to be delivered at scale.Trial registration numberThe trial is registered in ISRCTN (ISRCTN16001234).

Download Full-text

Nutritional Status of Children 24–60 Months Attending Early Child Development Centres in a Semi-Rural Community in South Africa

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18010261 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 261

Author(s):

Onwaba Makanjana ◽

Ashika Naicker

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Child Development ◽

Nutritional Status ◽

Energy Intake ◽

Vegetable Consumption ◽

Childhood Development ◽

Early Child Development ◽

Serum Retinol ◽

Early Child ◽

Nutritional Status Of Children

Despite the numerous efforts to improve the nutritional status of children, a high prevalence of malnutrition still exists in South Africa. This study aimed to determine the nutritional status of children attending Early Child Development centres in South Africa. In this baseline study, we randomly selected two Early Child Development centres comprising 116 children aged 24–60 months, separated into two cohorts, of 24–47 months and 48–60 months. Dietary intake was measured through the 24 hDR and analysed using Food Finder software. The food frequency questionnaire was used to calculate the food variety and food group diversity scores. Anthropometric measurements were taken and the WHO Anthro software was used to convert it to nutritional data indices. Blood samples were collected through dried blood spot cards in order to determine serum retinol and haemoglobin levels and they were assessed using WHO indicators. The findings showed that participants between 24 and 47 months had a high mean energy intake (4906.2 kJ and 4997.9 kJ for girls and boys, respectively). For the 48–60 months age group, energy intake was lower than the EER (5936.4 kJ and 5621.2 kJ; p = 0.038). There was low fruit and vegetable consumption (24–47 months; 63.8 g and 69.5 g (p = 0.037), 48–60 months; 68.3 g and 74.4 g (p = 0.038) and the top five foods consumed were carbohydrate rich foods for girls and boys, respectively. Stunting was noted in 7% and 20% (48–60 months) (p = 0.012) and overweight in 8% and 17% (24–47 months) and 17% and 13% (48–60 months) (p = 0.041) in girls and boys, respectively. Low serum retinol levels (<0.070 µmol/L) were found in 9.1% of boys (24–47 months), and 8% and 7.4% of girls and boys (48–60 months), respectively. Low haemoglobin levels (<11.0 g/dL) were found in 50.0% and 30.4% (24–47 months) and 8.6% and 39.3% (48–60 months) of girls and boys, respectively. Malnutrition, despite many national and provincial initiatives, still exists in Early Childhood Development centres in South Africa, calling for the application of contextualized nutrition interventions to suit resource-poor settings.

Download Full-text