1. Infants, Children, and Adolescents
Eighth Edition
Chapter 8
Physical Development in Early Childhood

2. Learning Objectives (1 of 2)
8.1 Describe changes in body size, proportions, and skeletal maturity during early childhood.
8.2 Describe brain development in early childhood.
8.3 Explain how heredity influences physical growth.
8.4 Describe the effects of emotional well-being, restful sleep, nutrition, and infectious disease on physical growth and health in early childhood.
8.5 What factors increase the risk of unintentional injuries, and how can childhood injuries be prevented?

3. Learning Objectives (2 of 2)
8.6 Cite major milestones of gross- and fine-motor development in early childhood.
8.7 Describe individual differences in preschoolers’ motor skills and ways to enhance motor development in early childhood.

4. Physical Development in Early Childhood
Body growth slows:
Child’s shape becomes more streamlined.
Individual differences in size become more apparent.
Skeletal growth continues:
New epiphyses emerge.
Primary teeth are replaced by permanent teeth.

5. Body Growth During Early Childhood
Figure 8.1: Body growth during early childhood
Figure 8.1
Photos of Wilson: Diahanne Lucas; Photos of Mariel: © Jim West Photography

6. Brain Development Between ages 2 and 6, the brain
increases to 90% of its adult weight.
undergoes reshaping and refining.
Preschoolers improve in
physical coordination.
perception, attention, and memory.
language.
logical thinking.
imagination.

7. Brain Development (continued)
Brain plasticity
ensures that child will acquire certain abilities even if some brain areas are damaged.
declines as synaptic pruning occurs.
Cognitive functions increasingly localize in distinct neural systems.
Rapid growth occurs in prefrontal-cortical areas devoted to executive function.

8. Handedness
Reflects greater capacity of dominant cerebral hemisphere to carry out skilled motor action.
Begins as early as tenth prenatal week.
Affected by prenatal events, practice, and culture.
Early damage to left hemisphere may cause shift in handedness, but most left-handers have no developmental problems.
Unusual lateralization may have certain advantages.

9. Cross-Section of the Human Brain
Cerebellum: structure that aids in balance and control of body movement
Reticular formation: structure in brain stem that maintains alertness and consciousness
Hippocampus: inner-brain structure that plays a vital role in memory and spatial understanding
Amygdala: inner-brain structure that processes novelty and emotional information
Corpus callosum: large bundle of fibers connecting the two cerebral hemispheres

10. Cross-Section of the Human Brain
Figure 8.2: Cross-section of the human brain, showing the location of the cerebellum, the reticular formation, the hippocampus, the amygdala, and the corpus callosum
Figure 8.2

11. Influences on Physical Growth and Health
Heredity and hormones
Emotional well-being
Sleep habits and problems
Nutrition
Infectious disease
Childhood injuries

12. Low-Level Lead Exposure and Children’s Development
Longitudinal studies show negative relationship between lead exposure and IQ.
Since 1980, laws limiting lead content of paint and mandating lead-free gasoline have led to a sharp decline in children’s lead levels.
Low-SES children are more likely to live in lead-contaminated areas and to experience risks that magnify lead-induced damage.

13. Relationship of Lead Exposure to 11- to 13-Year-Olds’ IQ by SES
Figure 8.3: Relationship of lifetime average lead exposure to 11- to-13-year-olds’ IQ by SES
Figure 8.3
(Based on Tong, McMichael, & Baghurst, 2000.)

14. Heredity and Hormones
Children’s physical size and growth rate are related to their parents’.
Genes influence growth by controlling hormone production.
Pituitary gland releases two growth-inducing hormones:
Growth hormone (GH) is necessary for development of almost all body tissues.
Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) prompts release of thyroxine, needed for brain development and for full impact of GH.

15. Emotional Well-Being
Children’s emotional well-being profoundly affects their growth and health.
High stress suppresses release of GH.
Extreme emotional deprivation can lead to psychosocial dwarfism, characterized by
decreased secretion of GH and melatonin.
very short stature and immature skeletal age.
serious adjustment problems.

16. Sleep Habits and Problems
Sleep contributes to body growth and cognitive performance.
Sleep difficulties are associated with impaired cognitive performance.
Children’s poor sleep affects parents’ sleep, generating family stress.
Variations by ethnicity are seen in napping, bedtime routines, and cosleeping.

17. Sleeping Arrangements of U.S. 3-Year-Olds by Ethnicity
Figure 8.4: Sleeping arrangements of U.S. 3-year-olds by ethnicity
Figure 8.4
(Based on Milan, Snow, & Belay, 2007.)

18. Nutrition Appetite becomes unpredictable.
Most preschoolers prefer familiar foods.
Social environment influences food choices:
Children imitate food choices of people they admire.
Repeated, unpressured exposure to new foods increases acceptance.
Emotional climate at mealtimes has powerful impact.
Restricting foods increases child’s desire for those foods.
Children living in poverty may lack access to sufficient high-quality food.

19. Dietary Deficiencies in Early Childhood
Most common dietary deficiencies of preschool years:
Protein
Essential vitamins and minerals: iron, calcium, zinc, vitamin A, vitamin C
Effects of nutritionally deficient diet:
Small size
Attention and memory difficulties
Poorer intelligence and achievement test scores
Hyperactivity and aggression

20. Encouraging Good Nutrition
Offer a varied, healthy diet.
Offer predictable meals and several snacks daily.
Serve small portions, and allow the child to have seconds.
Offer healthy new foods repeatedly and patiently.
Keep mealtimes pleasant and noncoercive.
Avoid using food as a reward or restricting access to certain foods.

21. Infectious Disease and Malnutrition
Poor diet depresses the immune system, making children susceptible to disease.
Disease contributes to malnutrition, hindering physical growth and cognitive development.
Widespread diarrhea in developing countries leads to 1 million childhood deaths annually:
Impairment and death can be prevented with oral rehydration therapy (ORT).
Zinc supplements also reduce incidence of diarrhea.

22. Immunization
Widespread immunization has led to dramatic decline in childhood diseases in industrialized nations.
About 20% of U.S. infants and toddlers and 17% of preschoolers are not fully immunized:
Many low-income families lack health insurance coverage or a primary-care physician.
Some parents believe discredited media reports of a link between vaccination and autism.
Public education on immunization is badly needed.

23. Otitis Media and Development
Otitis media (middle ear infection) is most common between 6 months and 3 years.
Rates nearly double in children who attend child-care centers.
Frequent cases can disrupt language and academic progress.
Prevention:
Frequent screening
Prompt medical attention
Infection control in child-care settings
Verbally stimulating adult–child interaction
Vaccines

24. Factors Related to Childhood Injuries
Injuries occur within a complex ecological system of influences.
Individual differences:
Gender
Temperament
Family, community, and societal factors:
Poverty, single parenthood, low parental education
Child-care shortages, teenage parenthood
Societal conditions in developing nations

25. International Death Rates due to Childhood Injury
Figure 8.6: International death rates due to unintentional injury among 1- to 14-year-olds
Figure 8.6
(Based on World Health Organization, 2008.)

26. Preventing Childhood Injuries
Laws prevent many injuries (car safety seats, child-resistant caps, flameproof clothing).
Many parents and children behave in ways that compromise safety:
Safety seats: 27% of U.S. parents don’t use them; of those who do, 40% to 84% use them incorrectly.
Parents overestimate children’s knowledge of safety rules, rather than monitoring and controlling access to hazards.

27. Reducing Unintentional Injuries
Provide age-appropriate supervision and safety instruction.
Know the child’s temperament.
Eliminate the most serious dangers from the home.
Always restrain children properly in back seat of car.
Select safe playground equipment and sites.
Be extra cautious around water.
Practice safety around animals.

28. Motor Skill Development in Early Childhood
Gross-motor skills:
Walking, running, jumping, hopping
Catching, throwing, swinging, riding
Fine-motor skills:
Self-help: dressing, eating
Drawing: line and circle, tadpole image

29. Changes in Throwing During Early Childhood
Figure 8.7: Changes in throwing during early childhood
Figure 8.7
(Adapted figures drawn from film tracings taken in the Motor Development and Child Study Laboratory, University of Wisconsin–Madison and now available from the Motor Development Film Collection, Kinesiology Division, Bowling Green State University. © Mary Ann Roberton. Reprinted by permission of Mary Ann Roberton.)

30. Changes in Gross- and Fine-Motor Skills During Early Childhood
Age
Gross-Motor Skills
Fine-Motor Skills
2–3 years
Jumps, hops, throws, and catches with rigid upper body
Pushes riding toy with feet; little steering
Puts on and removes simple items of clothing
Uses large zippers
Uses spoon effectively
3–4 years
Jumps and hops, flexing upper body
Throws and catches with slight upper-body involvement
Pedals and steers tricycle
Fastens and unfastens large buttons
Serves self food without help
Uses scissors
Draws first picture of person
4–5 years
Runs more smoothly
Gallops and skips
Throws with increased body rotation
Uses fork effectively
Cuts with scissors following line
Copies shapes and some letters
5–6 years
Increases running speed
Mature throwing, catching
Rides bicycle with training wheels
Uses knife
Ties shoes
Draws more detailed person
Copies numbers and simple words

31. Progression of Drawing Skills
Scribbles: during second year
First representational forms:
Around age 3: Labels already-made drawings.
Age 3–4: Draws boundaries and tadpole-shaped people.
More realistic drawings: preschool to school age
Early printing: ages 4–6

32. Progression of Drawing Skills
Figure 8.8: Examples of young children’s drawings
Figure 8.8
(Left: From H. Gardner, 1980, Artful Scribbles: The Significance of Children’s Drawing, New York: Basic Books, p. 64. Copyright © 1980 by Howard Gardner. Reprinted by permission of Basic Books, a member of the Perseus Books, conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center. Right: From E. Winner, “Where Pelicans Kiss Seals,” Psychology Today, 20[8], August 1986, p. 35. Reprinted by permission from the collection of Ellen Winner.)

33. Development of Children’s Drawings of Geometric Objects
Figure 8.9: Development of children’s drawings of geometric objects—a cube and a cylinder
Figure 8.9
(Based on Toomela, 1999.)

34. Chinese Children’s Advanced Drawing Skills
Several cultural factors promote advanced drawing skills in Chinese children:
4,000-year-old artistic tradition
Belief that creativity must build on a foundation of artistic knowledge and techniques
Instruction in painting using prescribed brush strokes
Writing instruction that emphasizes details of characters
In contrast, U.S. art education is more diverse and emphasizes independence and self-expression.

35. Development of Printing
Up to age 3
Scribbles
Varied pencil grips
Ages 4–6
Gradual realization that writing stands for language
Identification of individual letters
Adult pencil grip by age 5

36. Variations in 3-Year-Olds’ Pencil Grip
Figure 8.11: Variations in 3-year-olds’ pencil grip
Figure 8.11
(Based on Greer & Lockman, 1998.)

37. Individual Differences in Motor Skills
Body build:
Taller, more muscular bodies move more quickly, acquire skills earlier.
Sex:
Boys are ahead in skills requiring power and force.
Girls are advantaged in fine-motor skills and in skills requiring good balance and foot movement.
Social pressures channel children into activities.

38. Enhancing Early Childhood Motor Development
Motor skills are best mastered through everyday play:
Formal lessons have little added impact.
Preschoolers should have at least 60 minutes a day of adult-structured play, plus several hours of child-directed play.
Children need appropriate play spaces and equipment.
Daily routines support fine-motor development.

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