Researchers have identified 5 components necessary for the healthy development of toddlers.
- According to a new survey, 5 elements help guarantee the healthy development of babies.
- It involves a stimulating environment, good nutrition, a safe climate, regular sleep respecting circadian cycles and a positive state of mind.
- “We need to ensure that families have the resources to provide these essential elements to children, because this will have a significant impact on their development throughout their lives,” says the author of the study.
“When babies have access to these five elements, even in adverse environments, they improve their brain development, cognition and social-emotional skills,” says Ms. Luby, author of a short story study and specialist in child psychiatry. With their group of researchers from the University of Washington, they have just demonstrated that to guarantee the development of the infant, it is necessary to provide:
– a stimulating environment;
– a good diet;
– a safe climate;
– regular sleep respecting circadian cycles;
– a positive state of mind.
“We need to ensure that families have the resources to provide these essentials for children, as this will have a huge impact on their development throughout their lives,” she adds.
“The novelty of our research is to consider these five constants as a constellation of elements necessary for a child to flourish,” continues Professor Barch, co-author of the study and specialist in psychological and brain sciences.
Development: 232 babies and their mothers followed for three years
Their research involved 232 infants and their mothers. The babies’ development was assessed from the uterine period and lasted until the age of 3 years. The structure of the children’s brains was analyzed using MRI scans.
The next step targeted by the researchers will consist of implementing interventions external to families within the framework of controlled and randomized trials in order to guarantee, if necessary, the five elements cited at the beginning of the article.
Some parents may indeed have difficulty providing the necessary conditions for their infant’s development because they sometimes have to provide for the needs of several people in their household, and they may not have enough rooms to accommodate facilitate learning to sleep, that they have to work several jobs without being able to breastfeed or that they live in unsafe neighborhoods which keep them in a constant state of vigilance.
Baby development: what to do if there is a problem?
“Each baby develops at his own pace. The first years are often spectacular: he develops his motor skills, his attention and communication skills, he understands more and more things and gains self-confidence,” noted the government site for the first 1000 days.
If the child’s development worries the parents, it is entirely possible to discuss it with the pediatrician, members of the nearest PMI or the family doctor.
