MADISON, Wis. –This fall, the American Academy of Pediatrics updated its literacy promotion policy for the first time in 10 years, and a UW Health Kids expert helped craft the national message to pediatricians and parents.
Key updates include that print books are better than digital books and reading to a child should begin at birth. Leaders also strongly reiterated that pediatricians should support families with reading guidance and books at well-child visits, according to Dr. Dipesh Navsaria, pediatrician, UW Health Kids, who was a contributing author on the policy.
Navsaria is also the co-author of the new technical report accompanying the policy update that includes detailed scientific evidence showing the importance of reading to children starting at birth to foster loving, nurturing relationships during a critical time of brain development.
The first policy was written in 2014 and encouraged reading aloud to children but was more limited in scope and there was no technical report. There has been so much evidence in the last 10 years about the benefits of book sharing with children, he said.
“We have learned book sharing is not just about the book or getting a child ready for school success, it is about the connection between a loving adult and a young child,” said Navsaria, who is also a professor of pediatrics, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and a clinical professor, Human Development and Family Studies, UW–Madison.
The original policy stated reading to a child should start at 6 months of age but now the recommendation is birth.
“We changed the recommendation to start at birth because overwhelming evidence shows that’s when learning begins,” Navsaria said.
The policy also recommends using print books for young children, because digital books do not foster equivalent parent-child interactions, according to Navsaria.
“Good old-fashioned print books are really what is best,” he said. “They help with fine motor skills, like turning the page, and we’ve learned that books on screens can draw a child’s attention away from the experience of the book itself.”
There can be thoughtful ways to use screens, but it should be limited and if there is a choice, always go with print books, he said.
The policy also recommends early literacy be standard of care in primary care settings. The statement includes the work of Reach Out and Read, a national nonprofit that trains health care providers to make early literacy work a part of regular child checkups—for example, giving families age-appropriate books at checkups and offering guidance, coaching and modeling for parents to successfully incorporate reading as a daily routine, according to Navsaria, who was the founding medical director of Reach Out and Read Wisconsin.
“Ensuring that parents and caregivers have the skills to confidently read well with young children is absolutely critical,” he said. “People often think we’re a clinic-based book giveaway program; that’s true, but we’re secretly an evidence-based parenting support program.”
In 2006, there were approximately 30 clinics in Wisconsin in the program. Now in 2024, 300 clinics are participating, which includes all pediatric primary care clinics at UW Health. The goal is to continue to expand the Reach Out and Reach program, he said.
“In an ideal world early literacy promotion in primary care settings that see children should be the standard of care everywhere,” he said. “It should be the same as offering vaccines. There are so many benefits to positively help a child’s life trajectory.”
More information can be found on the Department of Pediatrics site.
