Not too long ago, the national and Memphis news turned their lens on pregnant teens in Memphis. Every year, one in six births in Shelby County is to a mother in her teens. Between 1991 and 2002, the teen birth rate for girls aged 15-19 had declined 27 percent in Tennessee.
The first few years of life are a period of intense brain development. This period is vital, for example, in early language development, in the formation of pre-reading and pre-math skills, in symbol and pattern recognition, and in the early development of emotional control and social skills that lead to school success.
This month’s issue of Research to Policy discusses the relationship between nutrition and early childhood brain development. As we learn more and more about the importance of the first years of life, we are increasingly aware of the significance of nutrition for the developing brain.
In the past, we have devoted this space to one aspect of demographics: growing up in poverty. We know that children who spend their first years in poverty have fewer opportunities to develop to their full potential.
As 2010 comes to a close, it is a good time to pause and reflect on the stack of reports released over the past year that comment on the well-being of children, and ask how these studies apply to Memphis, particularly in terms of what they can tell us about early childhood brain development, and
