Evidence

Evidence on children's well-being, problem first.

Every finding is tied to a defined problem for children, the intervention that claims to solve it, and its type of design. Open any card to compare the same intervention across countries.

65 evidence items · page 3 of 6

Development

Problem

Uncertainty over whether adding cognitive demand to exercise improves inhibitory control (an executive function) in children.

Intervention: A single bout of high cognitively demanding exercise or low cognitively demanding exercise, compared with an active control.
Population: 26 elementary school children, mean age 11.8 years (SD 0.5), Taiwan (country hint)

Key finding

Reaction time and accuracy did not differ across conditions (all p > 0.05).

Experimental

Chang et al. · OpenAlex - Early Childhood · 7 Oct 2026

Development

Problem

Limited vocabulary acquisition and retention among preschool children in ECCE centres

Intervention: Teacher-guided interactive mobile-based storytelling used to teach vocabulary, compared with traditional storytelling
Population: 280 preschool children and 111 caregivers and teachers from 49 ECCE/Creche centres in the Calabar Educational Zone, Cross River State, Nigeria

Key finding

Post-test vocabulary: experimental M=24.81 (SD=2.62) versus control M=17.94 (SD=2.83).

Experimental

Okon · OpenAlex - Early Childhood · 7 Oct 2026

Development

Problem

Low participation in motor activities and difficulty with coordinated body movements among kindergarten children, which limits gross motor development

Intervention: Movement and song activities used as a gross motor stimulation strategy in kindergarten
Population: 16 children aged 5–6 years in Group B3 at TK Negeri 5 Tibang, Banda Aceh, Indonesia, selected by purposive sampling

Key finding

Total gross motor score rose from 680 (pretest) to 1,040 (posttest), an increase of 360 points.

Pre/post

Fitriani et al. · OpenAlex - Early Childhood · 7 Oct 2026

ProtectionDevelopment

Problem

Domestic violence harms early childhood development, and many young children in low- and middle-income countries have developmental delays.

Intervention: National laws prohibiting domestic violence, assessed by whether children were born after enactment or only partly exposed.
Population: 38,955 African children aged 36–59 months

Key finding

Children born after enactment were 27.7 percentage points more likely to be developmentally on track.

Experimental

Bhuwania et al. · OpenAlex - Early Childhood · 7 Oct 2026

DevelopmentProtection

Problem

Economic disadvantage and sexual violence among young women in Sierra Leone, made worse by the 2014 Ebola outbreak, with effects on time use, pregnancy and school enrolment.

Intervention: A club providing a protective space with support, information on health and reproductive issues, and vocational training.
Population: About 4,700 young women and girls in villages in Sierra Leone, tracked before and through the Ebola crisis.

Key finding

In highly disrupted control villages, younger girls spent more time with men, out-of-wedlock pregnancies rose, and school enrolment fell persistently by 16 percentage points.

Pre/post

World Bank documents and reports · 1 Dec 2018

Development

Problem

Poor school readiness and low early grade reading outcomes among young children in Tonga

Intervention: Two interventions: community-run playgroups to improve caregiver-child interaction at home for children up to age 5, and teacher training, materials and coaching to improve reading instruction in grades 1 and 2
Population: Children up to age 5 and their caregivers in Tonga communities, and first and second grade students and their teachers

Key finding

Playgroups raised school readiness literacy domains and overall score by 0.19 and 0.2 SD for girls, and literacy domains by 0.17 SD for boys, among children of mothers without high school education.

Experimental

World Bank documents and reports · 19 Dec 2018

SurvivalDevelopment

Problem

Poor access to quality basic health and education services, with continuing child malnutrition, infant mortality and weak learning quality, especially in rural and remote areas of Indonesia

Intervention: Generasi programme, implemented for nine years (programme details are not given in the text)
Population: Households, village heads, and school and health facility staff in Generasi areas of Indonesia; over 46,000 people surveyed in the final round

Key finding

No impact results are reported in the text provided.

Pre/post

World Bank documents and reports · 1 May 2018

Development

Problem

Traditional assessment methods often fail to reflect the English language abilities of pupils with hearing impairment in inclusive primary schools.

Intervention: Portfolio assessment, an informal learner-centred approach, used to evaluate English language skills.
Population: Pupils with hearing impairment in selected inclusive primary schools in Fako Division, South West Region, Cameroon.

Key finding

Post-test mean of 12.78 for the portfolio group versus 11.14 for the control group (t(38)=2.919, p<.05).

Experimental

Tanyie et al. · OpenAlex · 8 Oct 2026

Development

Problem

Early childhood centres in economically challenged South African communities lack teaching and learning resources and practitioner professional development, which limits children's literacy development.

Intervention: Practitioners and parents were supported to create diverse teaching media from recyclable materials and use them in literacy activities.
Population: Early childhood practitioners and parents, and the children in their centres, in economically challenged communities in South Africa.

Key finding

Practitioners reported that children enjoy manipulating recyclable material.

Practitioner

Ntsala et al. · OpenAlex · 1 Oct 2026

DevelopmentSurvival

Problem

Impaired neurodevelopment among toddlers at risk of stunting

Intervention: Six weekly nurse-led sessions combining play-based early stimulation and structured parenting education
Population: 200 toddlers aged 36 months at risk of stunting in Tangerang Regency, Indonesia (100 intervention, 100 control)

Key finding

Cognitive: F=20.21, p<0.001, η²=0.093 in favour of the intervention group

Experimental

Sari et al. · OpenAlex · 1 Oct 2026

SurvivalDevelopment

Problem

Stunting and poor growth and development monitoring among toddlers, linked to limited family and health cadre knowledge

Intervention: Participatory nutrition education, counselling on balanced diets and complementary feeding, growth measurement demonstrations, developmental monitoring and individualised assistance for families and health cadres
Population: Families with toddlers and community health cadres in Indonesia

Key finding

Knowledge about stunting prevention, balanced nutrition, feeding practices and growth monitoring improved after the program (no figures given).

Pre/post

Syaharuddin et al. · OpenAlex · 1 Oct 2026

SurvivalDevelopment

Problem

Limited maternal and child health knowledge in the community, in a setting of maternal and infant mortality, chronic energy deficiency, anemia in pregnancy and low birth weight.

Intervention: Comprehensive health education on maternal and child health, including maternal and child nutrition, from early detection of pregnancy risks to complementary feeding (MPASI).
Population: 25 participants at one Posyandu in Depok, Indonesia

Key finding

Average knowledge score rose by 18.4 points after the education.

Practitioner

Hanifah et al. · OpenAlex · 2 Oct 2026

Evidence on children's well-being, problem first.

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Evidence on children's well-being, problem first.