An estimated 250 million children under 5 years in low-income and middle-income countries(LMICs) are considered to be at risk of not achieving their full developmental potentialbecause of inadequate care.This assessment was crucial for establishing the NurturingCare Framework, a roadmap for improving early childhood development globally. Althoughthe number is still based on proxy measures (stunting and poverty rates), newer researchdraws directly on indicators of nurturing care, provided by UNICEF's Multiple IndicatorCluster Surveys.