GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

PRESENTED BY

Mr. SURESH KUMARLECTURER

IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION P.G.G.C.G. SECTOR -11, CHANDIGARH

INTRODCUTION

Human being is never static. From conception to death, change is constantly taking place in his physical and psychological capacities. The two words 'growth' and 'development' are often used to describe these constant changes.Meaning of Growth and Development (0 GrowthOrdinarily, the term growth is used in a limited way to refer to increase in size and weight, becoming larger and heavier. We speak of growth of muscles, growth of skeleton, growth of the brain, and growth of the body in general. Growth can be viewed as physical changes that occur from conception to maturity. Term growth is generally used to indicate a growing that causes increase and enlargement. The heart grows and becomes bigger, the bones become longer, thicker and heavier. Meredith, an authority on physical growth, has defined growth as "the entire series of anatomical and physiological changes taking place between the beginning of the prenatal life and the death.DevelopmentGrowth and development are often used interchangeably to mean one and the same thing. But development is different and distinct term having different connotation. Development indicates that there is an advancement, more unfoldment, progressive changes, and a going forward to greater maturity. The term development means a progressive series of changes that occur in an orderly, predictable pattern as a

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VARIOUS STAGES OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Human life begins with the union of two germ cells, one each from both the parents, to produce a single tiny cell, zygote. It multiplies very rapidly but as it is so small originally, that only after a lapse of about seven months its gain in weight can be considered in the terms of pound or kilogram. A child's growth is too unique, distinctive, and individual but all the same, the process of his development follows, more or less, a general sequence. Starting from the pre-natal stage, this general pattern of development has been divided in the following stages:-Prenatal Stages: (a) Germinal or Zygote (b) Embryo, and (c) FetusPostnatal stage (a) Parturate, and (b) NeonateBabyhood or infancyChildhood: (a) Early childhood, and (b) Later childhood.AdolescenceAdulthoodOld age / Later adulthood.

1. Prenatal Stage: The Zygote is a single cell. It is very small like a pin-head and remains so for the next 24 hours after which it begins to accelerate slowly. During the next two weeks it becomes attached to the uterine wall and this process is termed as embryo. This stage is marked by differentiation of mass cell into three layers,1 xtoderm, Mesoderm, and Endoderm. The Ectoderm, or the outer layer, grows into skin, oral, nasal and anal passages, nervous system, eyes, cars, tooth and salivary glands. Mesoderm, the middle layer, grows into skeletal, muscular and connective tissues, kidneys, uterus and part of urinary bladder, vascular system, and blood. Endoderm, the inner layer, develops into lining of digestive system and specialised cells of thyroid and parathyroid glands. At this stage the traces of various organs of the body start emerging. Growth at this stage is quite rapid and after about six weeks time starts the fetus stage. During fetus stage, the pace of growth further accelerates with gain in weight, and the muscular and nervous systems grow rapidly. After about three months period, the child is able to make some movements - turning head, moving feet and wrist. By the fifth month sex organs start developing. Hair, eye lashes and eye brows appear on the head and the face, lungs, kidneys and other organs start developing, and are ready by the seventh month. There is no direct blood passage of blood cells into the fetal blood streams uptill ninth month. It is during this ninth month that placenta begins to break down and there is direct passage of some maternal blood into the child's blood stream. The growth of nervous system is quite rapid during this period and consists primarily of an increase in the number and size of nerve cells, The prenatal stage is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors.

Postnatal Stage: The period after the birth of the child till the severance of umbilical cord is called parturate stage. After this stage the child becomes completely detached or independent from the mother's body. At this stage muscle fiblers are present but undeveloped. At birth, the weight of the brain is one-eighth of the total body weight of the baby. The stage of first two to four weeks after birth is called the Neonate stage. During this period the child's body organs start adapting to the new situations of life and the outer environment.Babyhood or Infancy: This period extends upto the time the child is two years old. What is most striking about infants' development is the staggering speed with which babies acquire all the capacities that make us human. During this period, more or less, the rate of growth of all the processes is orderly and is continuous. The weight md height of children of the same age may vary greatly but the pattern of growth is similar for all. The growth of body size is influenced by the hereditary and environmental factors. The bone development during this period follows the same general trend as growth in size. It is most rapid during the first year after birth and then it slows down a bit till the time ofpuberty, whereafter the development is again more rapid. The bone development consists of growth in size and their composition. During this period, most of the weight gain is as a result of increase in fatty tissue and not the muscle mass. As the child grows up, the weight gain slowly becomes more due to increase in the bones and the muscles. At this stage the new born baby is about 9 to 20 inches long. The male babies are generally a little longer than the female babies. During this period, the first temporary tooth (or milky tooth as it is commonly known) starts appearing out of the baby's gums around sixth and eighth months. Lower teeth appear earlier than the upper ones. By the nine month an average baby has three teeth. Others follow in a regular continuous process.

AdolescenceThe term adolescence comes from the Latin verb adolescere, meaning to grow into maturity. In this sense, adolescence is a process rather than a period, a process of achieving the attitudes and beliefs needed for effective participation in society. This stage between childhood and adulthood is called adolescent period. This period of passage from childhood to adu Ithood is a time of dramatic physical, cognitive, and social changes. It is difficult to select suitable criteria for the beginning and the end of adolescence. Chronologically, the adolescent period is made up of persons from 13-14 to 18-19 years of age; psychologically, of those terminating a prolonged period of infancy to childhood; sociologically, of those who are trying to bridge the gap between dependent childhood and self sufficient adulthood. Webster's, dictionary has defined adolescence as "the state or process of growing up from childhood to manhood or womanhood." Adolescence covers a long portion, roughly the second half of the period of development. Adolescence ends when functional reproductive capacity is fully established and the child has thus, become an adult, following a calm and comparatively placid phase of childhood.ChildhoodChildhood begins when the relative dependency of infancy is over and extends to the time when the child reaches sexual maturity. It approximately extends from the age of two to thirteen years in case of girls and to fourteen in case of boys. During this long period, many physical and psychological changes take place. As social and cultural exposure of the child at one age is quite different from the other during this long period of childhood, it would be appropriate to bifurcate this period in two stages, early childhood and late childhood. Early childhood starts from second year and extends upto sixth year and late childhood extends from sixth year till he becomes sexually mature i.e. enters the next phase, the adolescence. During the entire childhood, growth proceeds at a more or less uniform rate with yearly weight increase (about two to tree kilograms) and height increase (about two to three inches). His higher centers of brain develop slowly, but progressively during these years. This stage of development has been dealt with in detail while dealing "Growth and Development during Childhood" in later part of this chapter.

AdulthoodThe periods of infancy, childhood, and adolescence are all a preparation for entry into adult life. They are ready to face challenges of life. Physiologically the young adults are at their peak, and their strength, endurance, reaction time, perceptual abilities and sexual responsiveness are all optimal. This stage is also a period of effective cognitive functioning. During this period he has to decide and settle on a career direction. For most of the adults, the early period of adulthood is an exciting and productive time of life, a time for gaining expertise, independence, and confidence. The marriage, parenthood and other normal events of family life bring change in their life style and in their outlook towards social and personal commitments. The process of aging is continually taking its toll, very slightly to be noticed at this stage, but by the time they reach forty years, gradual decline in the body and its capacities becomes noticeable. Intellectual abilities remain quite stable, rather show some gain. They achieve the peak in their career achievements, backed by knowledge and expertise acquired by them. This period witnesses practically the completion of process of socialisation. During this period, the intelligent and well educated persons make effort to analyse and locate their poor habits and then make efforts for changing the same.

Old Age / Later Adulthood: Senior citizens, as commonly the older people are known, have played their innings with some happy moments and some sad, some worth cherishing, some better forgotten. Renowned poet Browning has very aptly stated " Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made." With crossing over the sixties, physical, mental and intellectual decline is inevitable. Old age does bring with it some losses and decline in functioning of human mechanism. Failing eyesight or hearing, slow reactions, occasional lapse of memory are part of the aging process, but for many it is a period of continued growth and many satisfactions. Despite decline in physical and mental abilities, most of them maintain their characteristic personality traits, carry with them their own unique abilities, funds of knowledge and cope up with the challenges of aging in a graceful manner

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT DURING CHILDHOOD

Childhood begins after the babyhood, or infancy in over, approximately at the age of two and extends to the time of adolescence, when the child becomes sexually mature, approximately thirteen years for the girls and one year later i.e. fourteen years for the boys. Many physical and psychological changes take place during this long period of eleven to twelve years. This period has been divided into two separate sub-periods, the early childhood: from the age of two years to five or six years, and later childhood: from five or six years of age to thirteen or fourteen years of age i.e. till the adolescence.

EARLY CHILDHOOD :

Physical & Physiological Growth: This period begins at the conclusion of babyhood or infancy.As compared to infancy, the growth proceeds at a slow rate. During this period there is neither spurt in growth nor a total full-stop in the process of the growth. This period is usually a period of even growth, at a constant pace though a bit slower than infancy.'. During this period the height of a child increases at almost a constant rate of about three inches per year, and by the time he is ready to step into late childhood period, he is approximately 46 inches in height. However, we must keep in mind that there are bound to be individual differences in all the aspects of physical development, and no hard and fast formula can be laid down with regard to height, weight etc. The weight of the child increases at the rate of about 1.5 kg to 2.5 kg per year during this period and on an average a child should have weight approximately seven times than what he had at the time of birth; a girl may be weighing about 24 kg and the boy about 25 kg. by the time they step into the period of later childhood.

Social Growth: As child plays more with, and talks more to other children as he grows up, it lays a foundation for his socialization, and therefore, companions of the same age and level of maturity are important at this time for his satisfactory social growth. This is considered toe be the most appropriate time for establishing a sense of discipline and obedience. Because of his mental immaturity, the child is unable to understand the whys and wherefores of behaviour. Me merely learns how to act without knowing why he does so. Consistent discipline is necessary for inculcating the habits of obedience. It has been observed that too permissive or too oppressive or strict behaviour of the parents results in poor personal and social adjustment, whereas the children brought up under democratic discipline tend to make the best personal and social adjustments. Their attitude towards people, things, and life in general is patterned by their home environment. Home is the center of their psychological world, and if a child's relationships with members of his family are stable, warm, and affectionate, he is likely to become well adjusted and well socialized. Thus, the pattern of a child's personality, the foundations of which were laid in babyhood and infany, begins to take form in the early childhood.

LATER CHILDHOOD

Physical and Physiological GrowthSkill LearningConceptions and Perception Growth of Mental AbilitiesLinguistic GrowthSocial Growth

PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ADOLESCENT.

The terms adolescence, adolescent age, adolescent period, or teen-age phase of development are used variously to designate the period of transition from dependence upon adult direction and protection to self dependence and self determination. This is that period of life when the individual is in the process of transfer from the dependent, irresponsible age of childhood to the self-reliant, responsible age of adulthood. Psychologically this is a period of adjustment to the physical and social changes which distinguish childhood behaviour from adult behaviour.

PROBLEMS OF AN ADOLESCENT

Desire for Independence Problems relating to physical development Problems related to physiological growthSchool problems of adolescentsSocial demands upon adolescentsProblem of Adherence to codes and idealsBehavior related problemsIdentity Crisis

THE ROLE OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND SPORTS IN SOLVING THE PROBLEMS OF AN ADOLESCENT

Like any other healthy adult, the adolescent also takes a delight in physical activity. Though the physical benefits derived from this activity arc self evident, it is conducive to the general development of the personality as well. The field of physical education and sports provides ample opportunities to the adolescent to engage himself in physical li tivities for his own benefit and for the benefit of the society of which he is an integral part.Self-confidence and self control are in their fullest sense qualities of the 'whole man' and not just qualities of the mind.

The first step towards a fuller self-confidence may well be taken by the mastery of some physical skill. All sports and games contribute to some extent to this end. The degree to which they do, will vary with the complexity of the skills that adolescents involve themselves, and the amount of application that it takes to acquire those skills. The activities that offer a definite challenge to courage and endurance have a special contribution to make towards self-knowledge.

Everyone inherits from his ancestors certain definitely aggressive instincts. Unless these instincts can find expression in action, these will be repressed and will exert a distorting influence on adolescent's personality. Many sports and games give outlets for aggression. In the absence of such legitimate outlets, uncontrolled aggression will commonly appear in the form of delinquency. This principle is, to a certain extent, true of both sexes, though it is much more apparent in the boys than in the girls. Any keenly competitive activity will absorb a certain amount of aggression. It will be surprising to see how a young thug or bully can be civilized by taking up boxing seriously. He reserves his aggression for the ring, and out of it he is content to live at peace with his fellows.

Man is a social animal, and his social instincts must have its fling if he is to acquire emotional balance. Loyalty and unselfishness are indispensable social virtues, and the team games afford a convenient and pleasant training ground for the same. These games, therefore, rightly take a prominent place in any programme of adolescent sport. Membership of an athletic club or gymnasium is often safeguard against recruitment into antisocial gangs.

Physical activities, apart from the direct physical benefits that they confer, will also give opportunities for the acquisition of deep aesthetic satisfactions. Hiking, cycling, field sports and sailing, all bring the participants into close contact with nature and may awake an interest in her ways that will give lifelong pleasure. Few will deny that these aesthetic contributions are valuable influences in the development of the adolescent's personality.

Physical education and sports also encourage an adolescent to take up some sport which will develop a trait in which he isthought to be lacking. For example, to inculcate a virtue of patience he may be encouraged to take part in games like rifle shooting, chess, archery etc. This will go a long way in moulding his personality for adjustment in his life.

In almost every sport, adolescents will show a degree of aptitude that will justify an ambition to pursue the sport at its highest competitive level. This ambition can be of great importance as it enables them to avoid frustration, and can lead to achievement that contributes considerably in the formation of a self determined and self sufficient personality.

Participation of an adolescent in physical activities and games contribute greatly towards the development of his total personality. He emerges as a physiologically and psychologically healthy individual. This will enable him to-r overcome the problems associated with irritability, rebelliousness, moodiness etc which are common to adolescent's behaviour.There are a number of adolescents who are physically incompetent through weakness or lack of co-ordination. This incompetence can often give rise to deep discouragement and feeling of inferiority which affect the whole of an adolescent's approach to life. Physical education and sports can do much to help these cases. Such child can be introduced to a progressive course of training which works in two ways. In the first place it corrects in time the basic weakness or lack of coordination. In the second place it enables him to compete effectively against himself instead of ineffectively against his fellows. Suitable tests can be administered at intervals that will give objective evidence of his improving performance. This will often light the spark of physical ambition and before long he will be able to hold of his own on the ladder of general adolescent physical accomplishment. This achievement can often have a very significant effect on his performance in other fields.

There are certain bodily functions that we take very much for granted. The way in which we sit or stand, the way in which we walk or run, even the way in which we breathe are all matters of unconscious habits. Bad habits can develop particularly during adolescence. Bad habits of posture or function interfere with the mechanics of the body and causevarious organs to work at disadvantage. Whi le this may produce few symptoms during the adaptable period of adolescent, it may often sow seeds of trouble in later life. The detection and correction of these habits is, therefore, important. Their treatment lies within the sphere of the remedial and rehabilitative programmes of physical education. If such remedial measures were applied more widely in adolescence we should see less of the "bad feet" "slipped disc" and chronic respiratory troubles.

Adolescence is the age of adventure and thrill. Taking part in physical activities and sports involving adventure and thrill like paragliding, diving, etc. provide an outlet to adolescents for getting rid of undue anxiety and fear, though it carries a special liability to injury. Modern methods of rehabilitation provided through physical education can do a lot to help the adolescents to be back in the normal life with ease.

Some adolescents suffer from permanent physical disabilities as a result of accident, disease or congenital defect. The body may be crippled but the mind retains its normal need for physical activity, and special physical education and sports programmes cater for their need to the maximum degree possible.

Thus the importance of physical education and sports in solving ; problems of an adolescent cannot be over-emphasized. It plays a y significant role in disciplining the feelings, in controlling the otions, in channelizing the energy and in stimulating and motivating adolescent to form a constructive approach to life.