A new Saskatoon Health Region report finds income inequality, ancestry and neighbourhood of residence all play a role in early childhood development.
The report says close to 30 per cent of kindergarten aged children living in the Saskatoon Health Region are “not ready for school” in terms of development.
It also finds this lack of school readiness ranges from close to 60 per cent in some neighbourhoods to 10 per cent in others.
Chief Medical Officer for the region Cory Neudorf says inner-city, Aboriginal and poorer communities tend to be those most far behind in child development and this why early intervention is important.
Neudorf was speaking as part of University of Saskatchewan Brain Awareness Week at Station 20 West on Wednesday night.