UNICEF experts and the chief health officer of the West Bengal government have stressed the need to develop children’s mental health. “It is time to investigate the mental and psychological development of a child so that she can face the world with dignity. It will ensure them to become proper Indian citizens in the future,” said Debasish Bhattacharya, director of West Bengal Health Services.
Experts have urged parents, doctors, medical students and legislators to join together to improve children’s cognitive ability and help them become better and healthier citizens of the country.
Bhattacharya was speaking at a symposium on ‘Promoting Early Childhood Development: From Systems to Caregivers’, jointly organized by UNICEF, the Indian Academy of Pediatrics and the NGO Udbhaas-Nanritam.
From his experience of being associated with medical education in the state, Bhattacharya said that parents and others in the society should try to build children’s personality from early childhood and develop their attitudes. “This construction of personality must begin from childhood itself. Children should be helped to develop good behavior and attitudes that are missing in society these days,” he said.
Dr. Kaninika Mitra, a UNICEF health specialist in West Bengal, said helping children become better human beings was a priority. “Along with nutrition and medical care, children need proper brain stimulation for the first three years of their lives,” she said.
Parents have to tell stories from pictures and take the child outside and familiarize him with the outside world, according to the health expert.
“Children don’t need expensive toys. Rather, readily available objects like leaves, stones, flowers, clouds, stars, and the moon could be used to stimulate and develop their brain. The level of intelligence of children and how they will become successful citizens depends on the stimulation of emotions,” said Mitra.
UNICEF, which works with the state government to train people like ASHA or anganwadi workers to engage parents in early stimulation and learning for children at home, organized the symposium to discover more ways to bring child development policies to early childhood at the grassroots level.
With contributions from the PTI.
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