Early Child Development

During a plenary session on early child development at the CYPIC Conference in November 2022, we looked at the need for all babies and children to experience sensitive responsive care-giving, stimulation and play, nutrition an protection from avoidable harm. We have produced a summary of the feedback you gave us at the event (available below) which is being used to inform Scottish Government understanding about what more might need to be done to make sure we are getting the above elements right for all babies.

Public Health Scotland have published their most recent data based on Health Visitor reviews which showed increases across all age groups, and continued inequalities between our most and least deprived areas. 

Getting early child development right is crucial for all of us because we know that what children experience during their early years, including pre-birth, lays lifelong foundations for physical and mental health, education and life skills. The CYPIC community is already aware of this and are doing some great work to support families but we want to make our wider colleagues and communities more aware of the science so they can help make that difference too.

We are continuing to look at how we re-energise the focus on early child development in Scotland and make sure we are doing as much as we can for families from pre-conception through to age three. We will be looking for your help, ideas and examples so watch this space for future opportunities to engage!