Chapter 7 Infant Growth and Development

Chapter 7 Infant Growth and Development

Read through each slide and complete the questions at the end. You can go back to find each answer.

Influences on Growth and Development

• Heredity

• Nutrition

• Health

• Environment

Heredity (Review)

• Genes provide a blueprint for the development of the human body and how it functions throughout life.

• Children inherit a unique combination of genes from their parents.

• These combination of genes determines traits such as eye and hair color, when the teeth first emerge, whether certain diseases are likely to develop, and much more.

• The genes also shape or influence larger traits, such as a person's intellectual potential or artistic abilities.

• Nature and nurture both play a role in determining how a child grows and develops.

Nutrition

• The body needs essential nutrients to grow and develop

• Eating foods that contain these nutrients is vital to a child's lifelong health.

• Research has shown that nutrition affects many aspects of a baby's physical growth and development, including bone strength, brain development, and height.

• When a baby does not get enough calories or necessary nutrients, he or she is at risk for illness, delayed growth, or even death.

Health

• Staying healthy is closely linked to other factors that influence growth and development.

• A baby who is healthy is more likely to eat well and have the energy to be active.

• A healthy baby is more likely to have varied experiences that stimulate the brain and aid in muscle development.

Environment

• An infant's experiences are an important part of development.

• Brain development, which impacts all areas of development, is linked to the quantity and variety of experiences a child has.

• Failure to achieve normal brain development at this stage can have lifelong effects.

• A stimulating environment, which is an environment in which the baby has a wide variety of things to see, taste, smell, hear, and touch, promotes brain development.

Growth During the First Year

• Weight

• Length

• Body Shape

• Proportion

Weight and Length

• Weight gain is one of the best signs of good health.

• Most newborns lose about 10 percent of their birth weight in the first five days of life, after that, they begin to gain weight rapidly.

• A baby's birth weight usually doubles in the first few months and triples by the twelfth month.

• In the first year, physicians talk about the length of a baby rather than the height. This is because babies are measured while lying down.

• Babies steadily grow in length during the first year, in part because bone growth is rapid at that time.

Body Shape and Proportion

• Newborns tend to hold themselves in a tightly curled position with their fists clinched, legs bent, and feet curved inward.

• Arms and legs are skinny, and abdomen is large. The umbilical cord stump usually dries up and drops off within about three weeks after birth, revealing the belly button. Babies will gradually stretch out their arms and legs and uncurl their fingers. Their legs and feet generally straighten out over the first six months.

• Proportion refers to the size relationship between different parts of the body.

• A baby's head grows rapidly during the first year to accommodate the swiftly developing brain.

Development During the First Year

• Patterns of Physical Development

• Senses

• Voice

• Reflexes

• Motor Skills

• Hand-Eye Coordination

Multiple Choice

The four influences on growth and development are heredity, nutrition, health, and environment.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

___________ provide a blueprint for the development of the human body and how it functions.

• Healthy decisions

• Genes

• Nutrition

• Health

Multiple Choice

__________ and ____________ both play a role in determining how a child grows and develops.

• nature

• nurture

• both nature and nurture

• environment

• nutrients

Multiple Choice

The body needs essential __________________ to grow and develop.

• nutrients

• health

• heredity

• stuff

Multiple Choice

When a baby does not get enough ____________ or necessary nutrients, he or she is at risk for illness, delayed growth, or even death.

• health

• nutrition

• calories

• genes

Multiple Choice

A baby who is unhealthy is more likely to eat well and have the energy to be active.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

_____________ ____________, which impacts all areas of development, is linked to the quantity and variety of experiences a child has.

• Skill development

• Body development

• Brain development

• Heart development

Multiple Choice

Most newborns lose about _____________ of their birth weight in the first 5 days of life.

• 5 pounds

• 10 percent

• 10 pounds

• 15 percent

Multiple Choice

Babies steadily grow in length during the first year, in part because ________ ________ is rapid at that time.

• bone growth

• nutrition

• organ growth

• spiritual growth