For healthier kids
Washington University in St. Louis
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Start with good nutrition, breast milk if possible. That baby is going to need stimulation, lots of looking, reciprocal interactions, exposure to language and interesting stimuli.
If at all possible, you should
live in a place where you don't have to constantly be looking over your
shoulder in fear while you coo at the baby. Lastly, you must help the baby
learn how to regulate themselves including developing regular circadian rhythms
and sleep.
In short, focus on the "Thrive 5," five conditions to ensure an infant in the first year of life has what they need for healthy development. Those conditions include:
- Environmental stimulation
- Nutrition
- Neighborhood safety
- Positive caregiving
- Regular circadian rhythms and sleep.
Simple, and yet, it has not yet been prioritized for many reasons including the fact that researchers had not provided empirical data to support making the Thrive 5 a public health priority.
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis think
it's time to change that. In new research published in JAMA Pediatrics,
Deanna Barch and Joan Luby make the case that "Thrive Factor" is a
key element of healthy human brain, behavioral and cognitive development.
"When they have access to these basic supports, even
in the face of adverse environments, it enhances their brain development,
cognition (measures of IQ) and social-emotional development," said Luby,
MD, the university's Samuel and Mae S. Ludwig Professor of Child Psychiatry at
the School of Medicine.
There have been plenty of studies touting the benefits of
individual thrive factors, such as encouraging breast-feeding to facilitate
growth in general, but this new study looks at several key factors known to
influence brain development and shows their relationship to outcomes at age 3.
"The novelty here is putting them all together and
thinking of them as a constellation of things that are necessary and important
for a child to be able to thrive," said Barch, PhD, vice dean of research,
a professor of psychological & brain sciences in Arts & Sciences and
the Gregory B. Couch Professor of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine.
The study is part of WashU's ongoing research into how psychological and social factors in early development impact biological processes and change the brain. And it's part of a change in thinking in the child development field as scientists have learned that much of our health is not just genetically predetermined but is powerfully influenced by the psychosocial environment.
The human brain is still undergoing rapid development
at birth, and researchers are trying to understand the environmental factors that
shape this development.
The study of 232 infants and their mothers looked at positive factors in the environment in the fetal period and first year of life that enhance brain development, minimize negative behaviors and increase cognitive outcomes.
Participants were evaluated on social disadvantage indexes
beginning in utero and early life T-Factor scores were also calculated. As
infants approached age 3, they were re-evaluated for social, emotional and
cognitive development along with using MRIs to scan brain structure.
The results were clear that T-Factor is powerful: Even
infants coming from adverse conditions and under-resourced backgrounds can have
healthy development if they get their Thrive 5.
The researchers note that policymakers and pediatric
primary care providers should be informed about the importance of focusing on
elements of the T-Factor and how they can lead to many downstream advantages
for both the child and society.
It may seem obvious to anyone that a baby needs care,
sleep, food, stimulation and safety but "nobody has particularly focused
on or prioritized the importance of this during fetal development and in the
first year of life to enhance critical developmental outcomes," Luby said.
"The Thrive Factor provides a solid foundation for
healthy development. It has been underappreciated in primary care just how
malleable the brain is to experience," Luby added.
Barch said the next step will be setting up interventions
to test in randomized controlled trials. Another advantage to T-Factor is it is
highly feasible to share and promote in broad populations.
Interventions would likely take the form of multiple Zoom
sessions with parents to educate and coach them on how to best provide each
thrive factor. But that would just be the start, since parents need resources
to help them provide thrive factors.
Though T-Factor can help kids overcome adverse
conditions, Barch emphasized the need for understanding just how tough those
adverse conditions can be on a new parent.
"If you've never suffered from financial adversity,
you don't understand how hard that makes life," she said.
Parents can struggle to provide conditions to thrive
because they may have to support many people in their household, may not have
adequate number of rooms to ensure easier child sleep training, must work
multiple jobs and can't get away to breast feed, and live in unsafe
neighborhoods that keep them in a constant state of vigilance.
Though education can help caregivers, it will take public
policy interventions to ensure parents can access all the Thrive Factors,
especially when it comes to access to safe housing and adequate income to
support even these basic needs of developing infants.
"We need to make it so families can have the resources necessary to provide these core things to kids because it's going to have such a big impact on kids' development across the course of their lifespan," she said.
