©2001 Allyn & Bacon
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Chapter 8: Physical Development in Early Childhood
Compared to infancy, body size increases more slowly during early childhood, and the child's shape becomes more streamlined. The brain continues to grow faster than other parts of the body. The cortex, especially, shows gains in myelinization and formation of synapses, followed by synaptic pruning. Hand preference strengthens, a sign of greater brain lateralization. In addition, connections between different parts of the brain increase. These changes support improvements in a wide variety of physical and cognitive skills.
Factors affecting physical growth and health in infancy and toddlerhood continue to be influential in early childhood. Heredity affects physical growth by regulating the production of hormones. Extreme emotional deprivation can interfere with the production of growth hormone, thereby stunting children's growth. Sleep difficulties, in the form of night waking and nightmares, are common during the preschool years. Appetite declines due to a slower rate of physical growth. Since caloric intake is reduced, preschoolers need a high-quality diet. Disease can lead to malnutrition, seriously undermining children's growth, an effect that is especially common in developing countries. Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of childhood death. Efforts at several levels, including laws that promote safety, improvement of community environments, and efforts to change parents' and children's behavior, are necessary.
An explosion of new motor skills takes place in early childhood. Gross motor skills such as running, jumping, throwing, and catching appear and become better coordinated. Gains in fine motor development can be seen in preschoolers' ability to dress themselves, draw representational pictures, and print letters of the alphabet. As in other areas, heredity and environment combine to influence early childhood motor development.
Gains in perception continue during the preschool years. They are especially apparent in children's detection of the fine-grained structure of written symbols.
©2001 Allyn & Bacon |