“The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, began a study in 1991 to collect information about different non-maternal child care arrangements, and about children and families who use child care as well as those who do not. The result, the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECYD), is the most comprehensive study to date of children and the many environments in which they develop. It provides reliable, accurate, researchbased information about non-maternal child care and its links to children’s development….The major goal of the NICHD Study is to examine how differences in child care experiences relate to children’s social, emotional, intellectual, and language development, and to their physical growth and health.” – Publisher’s description
