Health advocates will tell you character matters when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle and managing diseases and conditions. Early learning experiences matter too. Research shows a direct correlation between effective early childhood education and better health outcomes—mainly through the early development of social and emotional skills such as attention, persistence, and impulse control.

Research shows that quality early learning experiences reduce depression, obesity, and teenage pregnancy by providing the foundational skills and abilities for a healthy lifestyle. Setting children on the right path is critical to eating right, exercising, and refraining from unhealthy behaviors like drug use and alcoholism that are costly for everyone.

Support early childhood education as a solution for reducing health disparities, increasing healthy behavior, and reducing health and social costs.