Abstract

We hope to broadcast this seminar online, and will post details of how you can join when they are available.

Many children lack the stimulation needed to support healthy growth and development. Recent international movement guidelines for physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep for the early years (0-5 years) prescribe that in the first two years of life, infants should be provided with as much stimulation and opportunity to be active as possible, in order to improve motor and cognitive development and growth.

Interactive play (cognitively stimulating play with a caregiver, resulting in increased infant movement, attachment, relationship building, and learning) can improve childhood growth and developmental through biological pathways linked to infant movement, and through nurturing care.

From my formative work, I have explored and developed methodology for objectively measuring infant movement using 24-hour accelerometry. Assessment of caregiver-infant interactions using headcams (small cameras which are worn on headbands on both infants and caregivers for a period of time while interacting, which provide a first person view of the interaction from both infant and caregiver perspective) provide naturalistic and detailed measures of parenting styles.

I aim to ultimately combine these two novel measures of infant activity and caregiver-infant interaction to define optimal levels of interactive play. However, the feasibility of the headcam tool in Soweto, South Africa has not yet been explored.