Integrated early years care and government policy to address child health inequalities: lessons from the UK and international contexts

Child health inequalities, strongly associated with poverty, continue to widen across the UK and globally. In the UK, children from the most deprived areas face significantly higher risks of hospitalisation, developmental delay and long-term morbidity. 1 Globally, 250 million children under 5 are at risk of not reaching their developmental potential due to poverty and associated adversities.2 Integrated early years care—linking health, social care and education—has gained traction as a policy solution to mitigate these effects.