Early Childhood

Every two minutes a baby is born in Australia. What happens - or doesn't happen - to this child in their earliest years of life will affect not only their immediate well-being but will also lay the foundations for their future.

If the child receives the best start in these early years, they will grow to be healthy, develop strong language and learning capacities, go to school and are likely to lead a productive and fulfilling life. However, countless children will be stopped in their tracks - deprived, in one way or another, of the love, care, nurturing, health, nutrition and protection that they need to grow, develop and thrive.

Brain development is at its most critical phase from birth to the age of three; during this time, a young child will develop crucial intellectual, emotional and social abilities.

The brain is not mature at birth. Different areas of brain develop, organise and become fully functional at different stages during childhood. Whilst genes provide the initial map for brain development, it is an infant's early experiences and relationships that literally sculpt the brain.

Little can be done to change a child's genes, but there is much we can do to change the environment in which young children grow and develop. Of all the factors that operate in a young child’s environment, the single most important determinant is the quality of the child's relationships with parents and caregivers.

Nurturing and responsive relationships build healthy brain architecture that provides a strong foundation for learning, behaviour and health. When protective relationships are not provided, levels of stress hormones increase – this impairs cell growth, interferes with formation of healthy neural circuits, and disrupts brain architecture.

Adverse experiences in the early years - extreme poverty, physical or emotional abuse, chronic neglect, family violence - are particularly damaging, shaping the development of young children's brains in ways that have long lasting effects.

Many of the health and wellbeing problems we see in adults - obesity and its associations such as diabetes and heart disease, mental health problems, criminality, family violence, poor literacy, unemployment and welfare dependency - have their origins in pathways that begin much earlier in life.

Many of these conditions and common problems are preventable or can be improved if recognised and managed early.

Last Updated 14-Jul-2009. Authorised by: Frank Oberklaid. Enquiries: Penny Miller.