Of students in Burnaby school district, 32.2 per cent are vulnerable on at least one measure of development, according to the latest research results from the University of British Columbia.

Since 2001, UBC has been monitoring B.C. students as they enter kindergarten, using the Early Development Instrument. Teachers use the tool to assess their charges in areas of language and cognitive development, communication and general knowledge, social competence, emotional maturity and physical health.

Overall, the study’s latest findings from 2008-2009 show that almost one out of every three children entering kindergarten in the province is developmentally unprepared and considered vulnerable in terms of child development, a situation that is both avoidable and preventable, researchers say.

In Burnaby, the neighbourhood with the highest proportion of five-year-old children vulnerable was Edmonds/12th Ave. with 53.2 per cent. The Middlegate and Deer Lake neighbourhoods both had more than 49 per cent, or nearly half, of kindergarten children vulnerable on at least one scale of development.

Other neighbourhoods with high proportions of kids vulnerable on at least one scale were: Metrotown (44.6 per cent), Stride Avenue (39.1 per cent), Buckingham/Lakeview (38.5 per cent) and Second Street (35.7 per cent).

The Government Street neighbourhood had the lowest level of vulnerability of all of the neighbourhoods at 7 per cent. It also had one of the second-lowest numbers of students assessed at 43, compared to the highest number, 139, in the Metrotown neighbourhood.

District-wide, the measure that saw the largest proportion of children vulnerable was the communication skills and general knowledge scale (17.6 per cent).

The smallest proportion of children vulnerable was on the physical health and well-being scale (9.9 per cent).

In Metro Vancouver, Vancouver saw 37.8 per cent of children districtwide deemed vulnerable on at least one scale. In Surrey, 28.4 per cent of its kindergarteners are vulnerable and in Richmond, the figure is 29.9 per cent.

West Vancouver and North Vancouver showed the lowest vulnerability rates in the region.

Provincewide, Revelstoke has the lowest vulnerability with 6.7 per cent, while Prince Rupert and Kitimat have the highest at 57.6 per cent 48.1 per cent, respectively.

“The good news is that most childhood vulnerabilities are avoidable and preventable,” said Dr. Clyde Hertzman, Director of HELP at UBC.

“Biologically speaking, the provincial rate should not be above 10 per cent. Young children in B.C. would have the best start in school and life if the province invested in policies that support parents and their children during their early years.”

The researchers recommended policy changes such as extending maternity and parental leave to 18 months, a shorter full-time work week, income support, more support for families with children up to six years and early learning and care services for children 18 months to age six.