Catholic schools in the Philippines give due importance to children’s spiritual development. However, initiatives that support children's spirituality often emphasize a distinct Catholic formation, potentially overlooking students from diverse religious backgrounds or worldviews. This article critically examines scholarship on child- ren’s spirituality to propose an alternative approach. By exploring themes of space, time, body, relationships, and agency, the article identifies practical strategies for nurturing spirituality broadly and inclusively. These strategies aim to create environments that support the spiritual growth of all children, regardless of their religious traditions or worldviews.
This paper considers critical approaches to child malnutrition and its broader causes, which necessarily include, but extend beyond, food. Materialist approaches to food in geography have emphasised how food is only one thing to move through, affect or be incorporated into children’s bodies alongside numerous other social and material relations. Drawing on (the untapped similarities in) wider geographies of infrastructure and care, as well as feminist perspectives on childhood, infant feeding and shame, this paper attempts to develop a broader geography of infrastructures of nurture: the underlying and contested relationships necessary to sustain life; and the consequences attached to their gaps and failings.
Motherhood, traditionally defined as the state of being a mother, is often understood through fixed gender roles that are socially constructed. These roles assign specific duties and behaviours to men and women that are reflected in many cultural artefacts, such as cinema. Films, as reflections of society, often replicate these predefined gender roles. However, as societal norms evolve, these roles are increasingly questioned, shaped and reshaped. The concept of motherhood is no longer exclusively tied to women; rather, it is recognised as an emotional experience that transcends gender, encompassing love, care, and nurturing. Some Bollywood films, such as Angrezi Medium, Mai Aisa Hi Hoon, and Rishtey, have begun to challenge traditional notions of motherhood by portraying male characters who assume the roles typically associated with mothers. These films portray fathers who demonstrate emotional depth, care, and sacrifice, taking on dual roles as both fathers and mothers in their children’s lives. Thus, this paper examines the selected Bollywood movies that represent the concept of motherhood through male characters.
The objectives of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 provide great and continuous support for discovering and nurturing talents in all priority development disciplines, which believe in the importance of investing in nurturing talents and innovators as they are the most important tributary to the prosperity of nations and are capable of shaping new future horizons to serve society. This research paper aims to identify the concept of talents with autism spectrum disorder, and to know the distinctive characteristics, methods and ways of detecting talents with autism spectrum disorder, and to identify methods of caring for talents with autism spectrum disorder. The importance of this research paper also lies in directing the attention of specialists in the field of special education to the importance of the category of talents with autism spectrum disorder and that they have talents in many fields. This research paper can contribute to caring for the category of talents with autism spectrum disorder and refining their talents. Through what the researcher has reached in the subject of caring for gifted people with autism spectrum disorder, it has become clear that studies that have addressed this category are rare. In many cases of diagnoses associated with autism spectrum disorder and accompanying disabilities, the gifted category stands out, which is considered a category of double exceptionality. Therefore, the methods of detection, identification and care differ radically in terms of services, methods and modern teaching strategies. Their characteristics, methods of care and needs that differ from the needs of others and their special care methods and educational and guidance services that are compatible with their needs and characteristics have been clarified, which helps in developing their energies to the maximum extent permitted by their abilities and talents that their societies need. There is also a not insignificant percentage of gifted students with autism spectrum disorder who are distinguished by high intelligence, but due to the lack of awareness of the importance of caring for them and paying attention to them on the one hand, and the lack of awareness of some families of the characteristics of their gifted children with autism spectrum disorder on the other hand, which leads to focusing on the obvious weakness of their children and neglecting their high abilities, as well as the inability of specialists to detect and identify Gifted students with autism spectrum disorder due to the lack of measures and tools to detect them that suit their characteristics, which leads to the failure to develop and enhance their abilities, and the failure of society to benefit from these creative energies that need care and attention. Through this paper, the researcher recommended the necessity of paying attention to the category of gifted students with autism spectrum disorder and providing training programs for them and their families. As well as paying attention to the special needs and requirements of gifted students with autism spectrum disorder. And encouraging researchers to prepare tools for early detection and diagnosis of gifted students with autism spectrum disorder. And conducting training research for specialists to develop their abilities to detect early indicators of giftedness for students with autism spectrum disorder.
BACKGROUND: Community-based para-professionals are trained or untrained professionals who assist in the delivery of health-related care in communities where they live. The role of community-based para-professionals in supporting early childhood development (ECD) supports has attracted increased attention recently, particularly in the context of severe constraints in the global health workforce. However, these practitioners face challenges associated with low status and poor working conditions. In response, the study reported here aimed to gather expert views on essential knowledge, skills and competencies for this workforce, to contribute to strengthened recognition of their unique role in supporting ECD. OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study reported here was to contribute to evidence that provides insight into essential training needs of professionals and para-professionals providing ECD services to families and children in low-income contexts. This paper focuses specifically on findings related to training needs of community-based para-professionals. METHOD: A Delphi study was conducted to reach consensus among 14 global experts around essential training needs of ECD workers delivering nurturing care in low-resource contexts. Three rounds of open-ended and rating scale data were collected. RESULTS: Strong consensus was found among experts around a unique set of Skills; Knowledge and Dispositions that should be supported through training for community-based para-professionals. A key feature threaded across these three training components was strong emphasis on effective communication and relationship-building with families and communities, to ensure that early childhood development programmes are culturally-responsive and authentic. This supports previous work that has highlighted the important 'bridging' role of community-based workers, particularly in communities at risk of marginalization. CONCLUSION: The findings provide a basis for supporting and strengthening this important workforce, through advocacy around (i) their unique contributions in supporting contextually-sensitive, responsive ECD, (ii) training approaches and strategies that support and build on these contributions, and (iii) mechanisms to support stronger recognition through career pathways and training needs that are shared with other ECD cadre groups (including health and education professionals).
In the United Kingdom, the most common reasons for a child to come under the care of social services are neglect and abuse. Such early childhood adversity is a risk factor for social-isolation and poor mental health in adulthood. Touch is a key channel for nurturing interactions, and previous studies have shown links between early somatosensory input, experience dependent neural plasticity, and later life emotional functioning. The aim of the present study was to test the relationship between childhood neglect/abuse and later life experiences, attitudes, and hedonic ratings of affective touch. Here, affective touch is defined as low force, dynamic touch which C-Tactile afferents (CTs) respond optimally to. We hypothesized that a childhood lacking in early nurturing tactile stimulation would be associated with reduced sensitivity to socially relevant affective touch in adulthood. To test this, 19 care leavers (average 9.32 ± 3.70 years in foster care) and 32 non-care leavers were recruited through opportunity sampling (mean age = 21.25 ± 1.74 years). Participants completed a range of psychophysical somatosensory tests. First, they rated the pleasantness of CT-optimal (3 cm/s) and non-CT-optimal (0.3 and 30 cm/s) stroking touch applied to their forearm, both robotically and by an experimenter. They also made vicarious ratings of the anticipated pleasantness of social tactile interactions depicted in a series of videos. Finally, they filled in the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and the Touch Experiences and Attitudes Questionnaire (TEAQ). As expected, care leavers reported significantly higher levels of childhood trauma than the control group. They also reported significantly lower levels of positive childhood touch compared to non-care leavers, but their attitudes and experiences of current intimate and affiliative touch did not differ. Across all psychophysical tests, care leavers showed specific reduction in sensitivity to the affective value of CT targeted 3 cm/s touch. The results of this study support the hypothesis that a lack of nurturing touch in early developmental periods leads to blunted sensitivity to the specific social value of affective touch. Future research should investigate the neural and physiological mechanisms underlying the observed effect.
Shaunna L. Devine, Susannah C. Walker, Adarsh D. Makdani et al.
Abstract Background: Parental stress occurs when parenting demands are greater than the resources available to cope with parenting. Previous research has identified household wealth, educational level, marital status, age, and number of dependent children as predictors of parental stress. However, limited evidence exists from sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This study investigated the sociodemographic predictors of parenting stress among mothers in Kenya and Zambia. Methods: Data were obtained from longitudinal nurturing care evaluation studies conducted in rural and urban study sites in Kenya and Zambia. Mean parental stress scores (PSS) were compared across study sites, and multiple regression modelling was used to examine associations between sociodemographic predictors (household income, educational level, marital status, maternal age, child age, number of children aged <5 years) and PSS, adjusting for clustering and other predictors. Results: The mean PSS was lower in rural study sites and higher in urban sites (Kenya rural: 37.6 [SD=11.8], Kenya urban: 48.8 [SD=4.2], and Zambia rural: 43.0 [SD=9.1]). In addition, mothers’ income and educational level were associated with PSS (income: Kenya rural, β = -0.43; 95% CI[-16.07, -5.74]; P =.003**; Kenya urban, β = -0.33; 95% CI[-6.69, -0.80]; P =.01*; education: Kenya rural, β = -0.24; 95% CI[-8.97, -1.68]; P=.005**). Conclusion: Measures to increase education levels, alleviate poverty, and improve household incomes, such as subsidising childcare, improving parental stress levels, and positive parenting practices, lead to better growth and development of their children. Trial registration: PACTR201905787868050 and PACTR20180774832663
Kenneth Okelo, Patricia Kitsao-Wekulo, Silas Onyango et al.
Abstract Background The first 1000-days of life are a critical window and can result in adverse-health consequences due to inadequate nutrition. South-Asian (SA) communities face significant health-disparities, particularly in maternal and child-health. Community-based-interventions, often employing Participatory-Learning-and-Action (PLA) approaches, have effectively addressed health-inequalities in lower-income-nations. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of implementing a PLA-intervention to improve infant-feeding and care-practices in SA communities in London. Methods Comprehensive-analyses were conducted to assess the feasibility/fidelity of this pilot-randomised-controlled-trial. Summary-statistics were computed to compare key-metrics (participant consent-rates, attendance, retention, intervention-support, perceived-effectiveness) against predefined-progression-rules guiding towards a definitive-trial. Secondary-outcomes were analysed, drawing insights from sources, such as The-Children’s-Eating-Behaviour-Questionnaire (CEBQ), Parental-Feeding-Style-Questionnaires (PFSQ), 4-Day-Food-diary, and the Equality-Impact-Assessment (EIA) tool. Video-analysis of children’s mealtime behaviour trends was conducted. Feedback-interviews were collected from participants. Results Process-outcome measures met predefined-progression-rules for a definitive-trial which deemed the intervention as feasible. The secondary-outcomes analysis revealed no significant changes in children’s BMI z-scores. This could be attributed to the abbreviated follow-up period of 6-months, reduced from 12-months, due to COVID-19-related delays. CEBQ analysis showed increased food-responsiveness, along with decreased emotional-over/undereating. A similar trend was observed in PFSQ. The EIA-tool found no potential discrimination areas, and video-analysis revealed a decrease in force-feeding-practices. Participant-feedbacks revealed improved awareness and knowledge-sharing. Conclusion The study validates the feasibility of a community-oriented, co-adapted Participatory-Learning-and-Action approach for optimising infant-care among South-Asians in high-income countries. It underscores the potential of such interventions in promoting health-equity and improving health-outcomes. Further research is required to evaluate their wider impact.
Logan Manikam, Priyanka Patil, Tala El Khatib et al.
BACKGROUND: There is a growing interest in implementing intersectoral approaches to address social determinants especially within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) era. However, there is limited research that uses policy analysis approaches to understand the barriers to adoption and implementation of intersectoral approaches. In this paper we apply a policy analysis lens in examining implementation of the first thousand days (FTD) of childhood initiative in the Western Cape province of South Africa. This initiative aims to improve child outcomes through a holistic intersectoral approach, referred to as nurturing care. METHODS: The case of the FTD initiative was constructed through a triangulated analysis of document reviews (34), in depth interviews (22) and observations. The analysis drew on Hall's 'ideas, interests and institutions' framework to understand the shift from political agendas to the implementation of the FTD. RESULTS: In the Western Cape province, the FTD agenda setting process was catalysed by the increasing global evidence on the life-long impacts of brain development during the early childhood years. This created a window of opportunity for active lobbying by policy entrepreneurs and a favourable provincial context for a holistic focus on children. However, during implementation, the intersectoral goal of the FTD got lost, with limited bureaucratic support from service-delivery actors and minimal cross-sector involvement. Challenges facing the health sector, such as overburdened facilities, competing policies and the limited consideration of implementation realities (such as health providers' capacity), were perceived by implementing actors as the key constraints to intersectoral action. As a result, FTD actors, whose decision-making power largely resided in health services, reformulated FTD as a traditional maternal-child health mandate. Ambiguity and contestation between key actors regarding FTD interventions contributed to this narrowing of focus. CONCLUSION: This study highlights conditions that should be considered for the effective implementation of intersectoral action - including engaging cross-sector players in agenda setting processes and creating spaces that allow the consideration of actors' interests especially those at service-delivery level. Networks that prioritise relationship building and trust can be valuable in allowing the emergence of common goals that further embrace collective interests.
Abstract Early childhood is a decisive period for establishing the foundations of physical growth, cognitive development, emotional security, social competence and readiness for learning. Anganwadi Centres in India provide an important community platform for early childhood care, nutrition, health education and preschool learning. However, the effectiveness of these services depends not only on what is provided at the centre but also on the knowledge, attitudes and practices of parents and other caregivers at home. Parental awareness therefore has a direct and indirect role in determining whether children receive nutritious food, timely health care, hygienic living conditions, responsive stimulation and emotional support. This article examines the role of parental awareness in promoting the health and well-being of Anganwadi children, with particular attention to child health, nutrition, hygiene and sanitation, psychosocial well-being and parent–Anganwadi collaboration. The article also identifies practical strategies such as parent education sessions, home-based counselling, demonstrations, peer learning, digital communication, growth-monitoring discussions and community-based convergence. Hence, parental awareness should be treated as a continuous family-strengthening process rather than as a one-time information activity. When Anganwadi workers, health personnel and parents work as partners, the Anganwadi system can contribute more effectively to children's survival, healthy development, school readiness and long-term well-being. This approach is consistent with the nurturing-care perspective, which integrates health, nutrition, responsive caregiving, safety and early learning (World Health Organization [WHO], 2020; UNICEF India, 2026).
