Kate Middleton Knows the Key to Nurturing Kids' Mental Health: ’It's Not About the Number of Toys They've Got'

Kate Middleton, one of the most relatable moms out there despite her royal rank, has been a longtime advocate for destigmatizing mental illness. Even more, she is a champion for finding ways to support kids’ mental health. Her latest campaign, “Shaping Us,” spotlights the impact early childhood interventions can have on a person’s physical and mental health.

“It is essential, to not only understand the unique importance of our earliest years, but to know what we can all do to help raise future generations of happy, healthy adults,” the Princess of Wales said before the campaign launched.

In a recent interview with Roman Kemp, Middleton told the radio host that the key to nurturing a child’s mental health is surrounding them with strong, loving relationships.

“The environment in which you bring up a child is as important as the experiences you engage them with,” she said. “It’s not about the number of toys they’ve got or the number of sort of trips that you go on with them. It’s just making sure they have got the right emotional support around them and that comes from the adults in their lives.”

Shaping Us is focusing from pregnancy to age five, when a child’s brain is growing and malleable. It’s a “critical time,” Middleton said, for preparing for adult life.

“It’s like building a house and without strong foundations,” she said. “Without that solid start in life, then those building blocks are much harder to build later on in life.”

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