GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT healthy child

1c. Intelligence – children with high intelligence do not

DEFINITION generally grow faster physically than other children

1. Growth 2. NUTRITION
-physical change and increase in size - The greatest influence on physical and intellectual
-includes height, weight, dentition, and bone age development.
- Poor maternal nutrition may limit growth & intelligence
2. Development potential
- an increase in the complexity of function
- an increase in skill or the ability to function or a 3. ENVIRONMENT
qualitative change
3.1 Harmful Pre-Natal Environment
3. Maturation a. Nutritional deficiencies
- An increase in competence and adaptability b. Mechanical problems
- To function at a higher level c. Metabolic endocrine disturbances
d. Medical treatment
4. Psychosexual development e. Infectious diseases/illness during pregnancy
- Developing instinct or sensual pleasure f. Faulty placental implantation/malfunction
- Freudian theory g. Smoking/alcoholism/use of certain drugs

5. Psychosocial development 3.2 Natal Environment

-Erikson’s stages of personality development - immediate factors that the child is exposed during birth
1. Anesthesia
6. Moral Development 2. Method of delivery
-ability to know right from wrong and to apply these to 3. Immediate care
real-life situations
3.3 Post-Natal Environment
7. Cognitive Development A. Internal
-ability to: - Intelligence
-learn or understand from experience - Hormonal Imbalance
-acquire and retain knowledge - Emotions
-respond to a new situation B. External
-solve problems - Socioeconomic status of the family
- Nutrition
PRINCIPLES OF GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT - Illness and injury
- Parent-Child Relationship
1. G&D are continuous processes from conception until death - Ordinal position in the family
- growing new cells, learning new skills, compare 1st yr
to later in life ==not exponential growth 4. TEMPERAMENT
- the way individuals respond to their internal and
2. G&D proceed in an orderly manner external environment
- ht. Small to larger (sit, creep, stand, walk) - inborn characteristic set at birth
- not developed by stages
3. Different children pass through the predictable stages at
different rates REACTION PATTERNS:
- others walk 9mos others 14mos.
-Activity Level – level of activity among children differs
4. All body systems do not develop at the same rate widely
- neuro-infancy genitals-puberty - Rhythmicity – it manifests a regular rhythm in
physiologic function
5. Dev’t is cephalocaudal - Approach – a child’s response on initial contact with a
- left head only by 1month new stimulus
- Intensity of Reaction – some react to situations with
6. Dev’t proceeds from proximal to distal body parts their whole being, others rarely
- thumbsuck to lifting forearms demonstrate
- Distractibility – children who are easily distracted are
7. Dev’t proceeds from gross to refined skills easy to care for
8. There is an optimum time for initiation of experiences or -Attention Span & Persistence – ability to remain
learning interested
- until ns is matured enough no matter how u teach a - Threshold of Response – intensity level of stimulation
child -Mood Quality – a happy child has a positive mood
9. Neonatal reflexes must be lost before development quality
10. A great deal of skill & behavior is learned by practice -Adaptability - the ability to change one’s reaction to
stimuli over time
FACTORS AFFECTING GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT
5. CULTURE
1. GENETICS - habits, beliefs, language, values and attitudes of cultural
- Family history of diseases may be inherited groups influence the child’s G & D
- Chromosomes carry genes that determine physical
characteristics, intellectual potential, and personality. 6. HEALTH
- Sex, race, and nationality – illness, injury or other congenital conditions can affect G
&D
1a. Gender – girls are born lighter & shorter than boys
1b. Health – a child who inherits genetically transmitted 7. FAMILY
disease may not grow as rapidly or develop as fully as a -the purpose of the family is to provide support and
 safety for the child patterns are universal and basic to all human beings
- because of the special bond and influence of the family
1. Directional Studies
on the child
-Cephalocaudal - head to tail
7.1 Parental Attitudes -Proximodistal - near to far
* Parents have stage -related needs and tasks that affect their
children. -Differentiation - from simple to more complex
* Superimposed on these development issues are other factors operations and functions
affecting parental attitudes:
a. Educational status 2. Sequential Studies
b. Childhood experiences - Orderly sequence
c. Financial pressures - Each stage is affected by the preceding stage
d. Marital status
e. Available support system 3. Developmental Pace
f. Child’s temperament - Does not progress at the same time or pace
g. Child’s personality - Periods of accelerated growth and periods of
decelerated growth
7.2 Child-rearing Philosophies
4. Sensitive Periods
STAGES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT - Positive or negative stimuli enhance or defer the
achievement of a skill or function

5. Individual Differences
- Rates of growth vary

BIOLOGIC GROWTH & PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Linear growth or height

- occurs as a result of skeletal growth

Weight
- Birthweight is a reflection of intrauterine env’t
In general,
-it doubles by 4-7 mos.
-triples by the end of the 1st yr
-by 2-2.5yrs birthweight quadruples

Bone Age
-determined by comparing the mineralization of
ossification centers
METHODS OF STUDYING CHILDREN
Dentition
-Major stages:
1. Growth
2. Calcification
3. Eruption
4. Attrition

DEVELOPMENT OF ORGAN SYSTEMS

1. Respiratory, digestive, renal & musculoskeletal

- Growth proceeds fairly in childhood

2. Neurologic tissues
Grow rapidly in the 1st 2 yrs.
Brain reaches mature proportions by 2-5 yrs.
- studying the same group of participants over a Lymphoid tissues
particular time period. Grow rapidly during infancy and childhood
- studying groups of participants in different age groups at
the same point in time 3. Skeletal growth & maturation
Provides the best estimate of biological age

MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

- process wherein children learn to control and integrate their

muscles in purposeful movements

Motor behavior skills:

- Reflexive or rudimentary
General fundamental skills
Specific skills
Specialized skills
PATTERNS OF GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT

- Each child displays definite predictable pattern * These