Early child development transformational change programme

Improving early child development by bringing together a programme to provide oversight and better integration of policies. These will focus on prevention, the importance of pre-birth and early years across all policy areas and identify policy and implementation gaps, informed by current evidence.


What we mean by early child development

This work is focused on what happens during the period from pre-birth to three, when the brain and metabolic and immune systems develop fastest, laying the foundations for life. Evidence shows the 4 things that are needed for babies and young children to develop are:

  • sensitive responsive caregiving
  • play and stimulation
  • nutrition and health
  • safe from harm

It is ultimately about making sure our knowledge of the science of what is needed for healthy development is translated into policy, service delivery and culture in Scotland. These short videos provide helpful illustration of the evidence:

Contact

Email: prebirthto3@gov.scot

Back to top