Listen to Story Child development is a global crisis affecting many low and middle-income countries. India, which comes under this category, is seeing an upsurge in child obesity, malnutrition, increase in cases of genetic disorders and stunted growth. While many factors cause this, a new Lancet study suggests that nearly 182 million children in low—and middle-income countries, around three-fourths of those aged three or four, lack access to adequate nurture, risking healthy development.
An international team, including researchers from the Centre for Chronic Disease Control (CCDC), New Delhi, said that child development is also affected by air pollution, climate change, and exposure to chemicals, which are emerging environmental risk factors. The Lancet series highlights the importance of the "next 1,000 days", the period between a child's second and fifth birthdays, as a critical phase for fostering nurturing care. Building on the foundation laid during the first 1,000 days, this stage requires targeted attention, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where access to structured early childhood care and education (ECCE) remains limited.
According to the study, fewer than one in three children aged 3–4 in LMICs attend early childhood care and education programs. Therefore, there's a need for substantial investment in this phase, prioritising access to high-quality ECCE programs that include adequately trained teachers, manageable teacher-student ratios.