HUMAN
GROWTH
AND
DEVELOPMEN
T
GROWTH- Growth indicates the
quantitative changes in the body i.e. change
in height, weight, body proportions and
teething.
DEVELOPMENT- Development indicates both
quantitative(like weight, height) and qualitative
changes(acquiring motor skills like walking, running
etc.)
PRINCIPLES OF
DEVELOPMENT
1. 1.Development is a continuous process which involves
change.
2. 2.Development follows an orderly sequence.
a. Cephalocaudal- development proceeds from head to
toe.
b. Proximodistal-development proceeds from centre of
the body towards outside.
Cephalocaudal
Proximodistal
3. There are individual differences in development.
4.Development is due to maturation.
5.Rate of development is different at different age
levels.
MILESTONES
The growth and development of a child are age-specific
and are characterized by distinct features called
milestones.
“Milestones are indicators of development and are
normal measures of an average child”, e.g., an average
child starts sitting independently at the age of 6-7
months. Knowledge of milestones helps to evaluate the
health of a child.
Development is influenced by both heredity and
environment
Heredity: children inherit the same hair, color of
eyes height etc from their parents. Children of tall
parents are generally tall.
Environment: Environmental factors as nutrition,
motivation, good role model etc., play an important role
in the development of a child.
A child, who is not given opportunities to interact with
others, generally turns out to shy and introvert.
Similarly, a child would adopt wrong pronunciation in
language, if he/she gets to hear faulty pronunciations.
DOMAINS OF
DEVELOPMENT
1. Physical Development
2. Motor Development
3. Language Development
4. Social Development
5. Emotional Development
6. Cognitive Development
Difference between Growth and
Development
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
“Physical development refers to changes in height, weight and body
proportions.” Teething is also part of physical development.
HEIGHT
Infancy is a period of fastest physical growth. Newborn
child is 45 to 50 cm in length. The infant grows
progressively and attains a height of 90-95cm around 3
years.
WEIGHT
Weight of a new born baby at birth is 2.5kg-3.5 kg.
Which doubles in the first 5 months, triples at 1 year
and quadruples by the time the child is 2 years old.
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
BODY PROPORTIONS
At birth, the infant’s body form is characterized by large
head, narrow round shoulders and heavy trunk, with a
protruding abdomen and short arms and legs. There is
general chubbiness and the upper part of body is
proportionately longer than the lower.
As they grow, the trunk, legs and arms become longer
and the head appears more proportionate.
TEETHING
Children starts teething at the age of 6-8 months.
Usually the lower teeth erupt first but in some babies,
upper incisors are the first to erupt. By the end of years
two to two and a half, a child has twenty temporary
teeth.
MOTOR DEVELOPMENT
“It refers to the ability to move and co-ordinate the different parts of
the body to perform different skills.” as in crawling, walking, standing,
grasping, etc.
GROSS MOTOR SKILLS
These require coordination of large muscles of the
body such as those of legs, shoulder, hips and back,
e.g., sitting, standing, walking, running etc.
FINE MOTOR SKILLS
These require coordination of small muscles of the
body such as in wrist, fingers, thumb etc.,
for example, feeding self, picking up small objects
with fingers and thumb, using crayons, scissors, etc.
Milestones of Motor
Development
S No Age Nature of Milestone
1. Birth - 3 Months • Lifting and holding the head
2. 3 Months • The infant begins to hold his/her head,
and this is a major milestone in
development. If a child is unable to do
this even by the age of 6 months, it
shows that there is delay in
development.
3. 6 – 8 Months • Sitting with adult support or in a seat
with straps
• Sitting without support
4. 8 – 9 Months • Crawling; however, some children do
not crawl and directly learn to stand
after being able to sit
• Standing if supported or by holding on
to something.
Milestones of Motor
Development
S No Age Nature of Milestone
5. 12 – 18 Months • Walking; initially the child’s walk is
unsteady but gradually it becomes
steady.
• Running; after the child learns to walk,
she/he begins to run, falling down
often. As the balance improves, she/he
is able to run in a more coordinated
manner without falling frequently by
the age of 2 years.
6. 18 – 24 Months • Climbing stairs/steps by placing both
feet on each step, if hand held by
someone.
7. 2 Years • Walking backwards, goes down slide,
climbs ladder
• Jumping from low platform with both
feet
8. 3 Years • Can balance on one foot
• Can kick large ball
• Can throw and catch a ball
