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Indian Academy of Pediatrics Position Paper on Nurturing Care for Early Childhood Development

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Abstract

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)

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi, India

    Sharmila Banerjee Mukherjee

  2. National Professional Officer (Newborn and Child Health), India Country Office, World Health Organization, New Delhi, India

    Deepti Agrawal

  3. Department of Pediatris, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, India

    Devendra Mishra & Siddarth Ramji

  4. Chairperson, Steering Committee, IAP NC-ECD, Indian Academy of Pediatrics, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

    Digant Shastri

  5. Developmental Behavioral Pediatrician, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

    Samir Hasan Dalwai

  6. Department of Pediatrics, MGM Medical College, Kishanganj, Bihar, India

    Nandita Chattopadhyay

  7. Aster Medcity, Kochi, Kerala, India

    Jeeson Unni

  8. Infant and Young Child Feeding Chapter of Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP), Surat, Gujarat, India

    Ketan Bharadva

  9. National Chairperson, Growth Development Behavioral Chapter of IAP, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

    Anjana Thadhani

  10. Deprtment of Pediatrics, St. John’s Medical College, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

    Maria Lewin

  11. Shanti Nursing Home, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

    Akhila Nagaraj

  12. Division of Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health, World Health Organization - South East Asia Regional Office, New Delhi, India

    Rajesh Mehta

  13. UNICEF India Country Office, New Delhi, India

    Vivek V. Singh, Arjan de Wagt & Luigi D’ Aquino

  14. National Neonatology Forum, New Delhi, India

    Ranjan Kumar Pejaver

  15. Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI), Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India

    Alpesh Gandhi

  16. FOGSI, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

    Jaydeep Tank

  17. Mehta Multispeciality Hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

    S. Thangavelu

  18. IAP, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

    G. V. Basavaraja

  19. IAP, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

    R. Remesh Kumar

  20. Department of Pediatrics, University College of Medical Sciences, Delhi, 110 095, India

    Piyush Gupta

Authors
  1. Sharmila Banerjee Mukherjee
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  2. Deepti Agrawal
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  3. Devendra Mishra
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  4. Digant Shastri
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  14. Vivek V. Singh
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  18. Alpesh Gandhi
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  19. Jaydeep Tank
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  20. S. Thangavelu
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  21. G. V. Basavaraja
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  22. R. Remesh Kumar
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  23. Piyush Gupta
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Piyush Gupta.

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Contributors

PG and DA conceptualized the position paper. SBM reviewed literature of all the sections of the paper and drafted the manuscript, with the help of DM and SHD. DS, AN and ST reviewed and provided literature on the magnitude of burden. DA, AT and ML reviewed and provided literature on existing policies and programs. NC, JU, KB, JT and RKP reviewed and provided literature on existing recommendations. DS, SR, AG, RM, VVS, AdW, LdA wrote the roadmap for their respective organizations. PG, SR, GVB and RR did the critical appraisal of the paper. All authors have approved the final manuscript.

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World Health Organization

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None stated.

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Mukherjee, S.B., Agrawal, D., Mishra, D. et al. Indian Academy of Pediatrics Position Paper on Nurturing Care for Early Childhood Development. Indian Pediatr 58, 962–969 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-021-2332-1

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