Kansas city brain builders: Progress implementing a multisectoral approach promoting equity in young children's language nutrition and school readiness

Language nutrition, a phrase depicting language exposure occurring during caregiver-child social interactions, holds immense significance in a child's oral language acquisition and early brain development. We report progress promoting language nutrition by the KC Brain Builders Community Coalition (KCBB). A longitudinal, multilevel design was used to evaluate the effects of the KCBB. An online logbook was used to track community actions, and 83 families (73% Latinx) completed surveys reporting the reach of the KCBB. Twelve community sectors and 21 organizations were involved in 329 actions targeting changes in practices, programs, and policies. Significant relationships were identified between parents' knowledge of the importance of talking to babies, the children's home language environment, and expressive language skills. An approach for promoting population-level changes in children's language nutrition is demonstrated. Initial findings indicated that language acquisition in young children is driven by a child's language environment, its structure and function. Implications are discussed.