Early childhood, which is oftentimes categorized as the age of 0 to 5 years old, is a critical stage because it serves as the foundation of life of a person when intelligence, personality and social behaviour are formed.  This is the stage when the physical, social and psychological capacities should be recognized and supported otherwise they will have communication, learning and development problems.  It is also the stage in life where humans are most vulnerable to conditions such as malnutrition, illnesses, neglect, violence and lack of early childhood stimulation can have a detrimental effect on both their immediate situation and their abilities to succeed later in life.   Infants and young children therefore should be provided with the enabling environment for them to thrive well and grow into healthy adults. Unfortunately, various gaps and barriers towards healthy development of these young children still exist and this is manifested in several ways among young children.

In Sri Lanka, a significant number of children aged 0 to 5 years old are malnourished and are deprived of the opportunity to have access to good quality early childhood developmental activities. These two aspects are very critical towards achieving overall development of the child which will have impact on his/her total well-being.  

Malnutrition in the target  area 40% (Sri Lanka). , the prevalence of children aged 0 to 5 years old with stunted growth due to malnutrition is also high registering 35.6% of the children who were weighed (Riskesdas, 2010).  Anemia among  pregnant women in Indonesia is another issue with the prevalence 40.1% which has impact on the health and nutritional status of children.  This is  as seen to be one of the causes of child mortality rate .

On the other hand,  40% in Sri Lanka do not have access to early childhood development activities. This percentage is worse for the younger age groups 0 to 23 months where there are no clear institutions or programs that teach parents and caregivers on early childhood stimulation.