Paper Example on Physical Growth

Introduction

Physical growth is opined as the increase of body size, that is, the height, weight and even the length. The growth also takes into consideration the size of organs of any living organism. In the case human beings, the growth starts at infancy between the ages of 1 and two years where the child begins to grow most of the body organs rapidly. A two-year-old child is likely to have an erratic eating behaviour which may make the parents feel anxious.

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In some cases, physical growth may also be used interchangeably with physical development. Physical development is mostly viewed based on two dimensions, that is growth and development where in this case, the earlier explanation for growth still holds while development focuses on how children can gain and exercise control over their physical actions in doing complicated activities more skillfully and easily (Sampson, 2017). The two (growth and development) are mostly used or linked because they depend on the development and improvement of the physical prowess of the child. Physical development will, therefore, depend on or follow a particular pattern of skills even with the variation of age. In most cases, such a pattern can only be affected by disability.

The given material on physical development agrees with the opinion given above since it looks at physical development from the time of infancy and the rapid changes which occurs in the subsequent stages. It is true that growth is usually slow during the early and middle stages of life and accelerates at adolescent. During the early and middle stages, the growth is mostly concerned with the manner in which children can acquire basic skills of life like eating, talking, sitting, and walking (Zong & Li, 2014). The stages are not marked with rapid developments because most of the body organs are not fully developed hence may not support rapid growth. On the physical dimension, the time of birth and the age of three usually determine whether the child will quadruple or double in height. The bodily proportions may also shift in the sense that the infant whose head accounts for nearly one-fourth of the total estimated bodily length may become a toddler with an adult-look like appearance. Even though the developments may be noted, a three-year-old child is supposed to have mastered many skills with some including, walking, toilet training, the use of a spoon, scribbling and the sufficient hand-eye coordination, a skill which may enable the child easily catch a ball. As the child approaches the middle stages, the skills shift from the basic ones to those of fine-motor skills. It is also in the middle stage of development where the parent may consider taking the child to school because the basic skills like body posture and talking to mention but a few have already been acquired (Sampson & Mazmanian, 2015). As the child approaches puberty, other rapid developments are noted, and the parent is expected to stay closer to the child and offer advice on many areas with the basic concern being on body sexuality among other important topics.

It is also correct to note that changes in body proportions are based on certain trends, for example, after birth, there is the cephalocaudal trend where the growth of the head and chest acquire an advantage over other body parts like the trunk and the legs. The cephalocaudal trend may also be opined as the cephalocaudal gradient growth based on its reference to the unusual pattern of the changing spatial proportions over a particular period in the growth of human beings. The other notable concern is on the proximodistal trend which focuses on the growth of the centre of the body towards the outward dimension. Just like the cephalocaudal trend, the proximodistal trend also describes particular irregularities in human development. Such include the tendency for the development of more general functions which may come before those of the fine motor skills. It is true that such kind of developments are only evident in the early stages because as one approaches puberty, the developments of the legs and those of the feet accelerate at a faster rate, something which is followed by the torso. It is also at the time that evident distinguishing factors between boys and girls begin to appear considering the advanced growth.

As the child continues to grow, there are needs for the involvement of the team sports, something which ensures that they stay fit and healthy. The step will also mitigate the chances of diseases which would have otherwise occurred due to poor health. It is, therefore, important that at some point of human development, the child is introduced to regular physical activities which will, in turn, increase their social competence and facilitate the improvement of their self-esteem. However, parents must offer guidelines to ensure that the child does not engage in such activities for competitions but rather as a way of improving their physical fitness and learning the importance of teamwork.

The discussion of growth may also touch on the secular trends as captured in the course material. According to the material, secular trends discusses physical development from the dimension of changes in body size from generation to generation. It is true that secular trends define the changes in body size, fatness, maturation and the rate of growth, something which has been occurring for at least the past 15 years, however, the author of the material under critique ought to have further specified that in the succeeding generations, the timing for puberty may come a little bit earlier.

It is equally agreeable that the discussion on physical growth may not hold without touching on the development of the brain for the body to perform effectively. For example, the cerebellum ensures that balance is achieved (Fuhrmann, Knoll, & Blakemore, 2015). It is equally correct that the reticular formation and the hippocampus ensure the maintenance of conscious and memory awareness respectively. Other important parts of the brain with significant roles include the corpus callosum and the amygdala. It is also advisable for mothers to ensure that their babies are breastfed instead of bottle feeding to guard them against diseases. They must be given nutritious food to develop healthily and without problems.

Conclusion

The course material on physical growth has competently touched on the significant areas. For example, it has explained the development procedures and concerns on the early and middle stages and how rapid changes take place during puberty. It has also addressed the development of the brain with specific functions which in some way affect the physical growth of a human being. Other than that, it has offered an important lesson about breast and bottle feeding and how the latter is important while not forgetting to address the demerits of the former. Other important areas addressed are on team sporting, adolescents, secular, proximodistal and, cephalocaudal trends to mention but a few. I would, however, recommend that the article also addresses matters about human disability especially those brought by challenges in physical development to increase its productivity to even the disabled community.

References

Fuhrmann, D., Knoll, L. J., & Blakemore, S. J. (2015). Adolescence as a sensitive period of brain development. Trends in cognitive sciences, 19(10), 558-566.

Sampson, R. J. (2017). Family management and child development: Insights from social disorganisation theory. In Facts, frameworks, and forecasts (pp. 63-94). Routledge.

Sampson, T. R., & Mazmanian, S. K. (2015). Control of brain development, function, and behaviour by the microbiome. Cell host & microbe, 17(5), 565-576.

Zong, X. N., & Li, H. (2014). Physical growth of children and adolescents in China over the past 35 years. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 92, 555-564.