Ulster Children Developing 'Unequally'

Research published today has highlighted a range of inequalities in the development of young children between the ages of five and seven.

The Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister's report, 'The consequences at age seven of early childhood disadvantage in Northern Ireland and Great Britain' was produced by a research team at the Institute of Education in London and examined children's cognitive, educational, behavioural, health and obesity outcomes at age seven.

Children here are more likely to be overweight than children in Great Britain at age seven.

Children who were overweight at age five had an overwhelmingly greater risk of being overweight at age seven.

Girls and only children were more likely to become overweight between the ages of five and seven.

Parents who are overweight and mothers' smoking behaviour are substantial risk factors related to children being overweight at age seven.

The report also showed that in relation to both cognitive development and to teacher assessments of educational development, children with low birth weights and those from lower social class groups, in particular the children of the long term unemployed and semi-routine and routine workers are particularly disadvantaged in terms of both educational and cognitive development between the ages of five and seven.

Both low birth weight and parental social class stand out as more important in predicting a child's progress between the ages of five and seven than either parental education level or parenting behaviour.

Whilst overall, children in Northern Ireland were better behaved compared to children in Great Britain the research indicates that being a boy is a strong predictor of increased behavioural difficulties between the ages of five and seven.

Parental psychological distress and longstanding illness and disability are also robust predictors of increased behavioural difficulties between these ages.

In broad terms, one of the strongest factors related to the various outcomes for children at the age of seven, were their outcomes on these measures at age five.

On that basis, outcomes, shaped and influenced by the various individual, social, economic and parental influences at age five, were amongst the strongest predictor of outcomes at age seven.

Factors relating to widening and narrowing developmental gaps between the ages of five and seven varied according to which indicator of child progress was being considered.

Social and economic disadvantage shaped cognitive and educational development most strongly, followed by behavioural outcomes, but had a far less marked pattern in relation to children's general health and overweight.

Being a boy, and parents' physical and mental health are important predictors of change in child behaviour and child health between the ages of five and seven, while parents' overweight is important in predicting change in children's overweight.

(BMcC/KMcA)