Nursery World - Touch as important to child development as healthy food, research finds

Touch is as essential to child development as nutrition, a report published as the UK emerges from national lockdown has found.

Caring touch is vital for young children's development and wellbeing

Emergent neuro-scientific evidence shows that nurturing touch is an essential pre-requisite of the physical and emotional security that children need in order to grow and flourish. A lack of caring touch in early life has lifelong adverse consequences on mental health.

The report, Wellbeing and Nurture: Physical and Emotional Security in Childhood published by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on A Fit and Healthy Childhood, refers to the damage made by the ‘social starvation’ approach to child development made by the Ceausescu regime in Romanian orphanages in the 1980s.

Recommendations in the report, sponsored by Liverpool John Moore’s University, include:

APPG chair, Steve McCabe MP said that our future society depends on the physical and emotional wellbeing of children.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included