Project report
Sustain the Gains: An Assessment of Nurturing Care Outcomes in the Next 1,000 Days
Ma. Norma Thea Madeline Conjares, Danielle Lois Carreon, Lyle Daryll Casas, Valerie Gilbert Ulep ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This report assesses nurturing care outcomes for children aged two to five years in the Philippines, a period critical for cognitive, motor, and socio-emotional development. Nurturing care encompasses conditions that enable caregivers and communities to support children's health, nutrition, learning, and safety. The report provides a baseline assessment using population-level data to identify gaps and inform policy recommendations, addressing the limited research on this age group in low- and middle-income countries.
Key points
- The period from age two to five is vital for building on early developmental gains and sustaining healthy trajectories
- Nurturing care requires coordination across health, nutrition, education, and safety sectors rather than working in silos
- Research with disaggregated data on this age group is limited in low- to middle-income countries including the Philippines
- Current efforts to promote development in this period are often inadequate or poorly translated into policy
- The assessment uses the nurturing care framework to evaluate population-level outcomes for children under five
Limitations
This is a baseline assessment document that does not present findings or evaluate a specific intervention. The abstract does not provide data on outcomes, implementation results, or policy recommendations, limiting understanding of what the assessment actually found or how it informs practice.
Abstract
The next 1,000 days of a child's life (spanning from the age of two to five years) offer a crucial opportunity to build on early gains and sustain or improve trajectories of healthy development. This period is vital for cognitive, motor, and socio-emotional growth. Consequently, it emphasizes nurturing care, which refers to the conditions established by public policies, programs, and services that enable caregivers and communities to ensure good health, adequate nutrition, responsive caregiving, opportunities for early learning, and safety and security. While Early Childcare and Development (ECD) interventions are not new in the Philippines, the next 1,000 days underscore the importance of continuity of care, emphasizing that the responsibility for ECD extends beyond parent-child relationships and the silos of the health and nutrition sectors. However, research involving disaggregated data during this period is limited among low- to middle-income countries, including the Philippines. Additionally, efforts to promote development in the next 1,000 days are often inadequate or not effectively translated into policies. This report aims to provide a baseline assessment of relevant outcomes during this critical period through the lens of the nurturing care framework, using population-level data covering children under the age of five. This assessment will guide the formulation of policy recommendations to enhance and build on these efforts, maximizing this golden opportunity for early child development.