Factors Affecting Growth & Development PDF

**FACTORS AFFECTING GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT** Factors that impact the growth and development of a person. 1. **Heredity** - is the transmission of physical characteristics from parents to children through their genes. It influences all aspects of physical appearance such as height, weig...

**FACTORS AFFECTING GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT** Factors that impact the growth and development of a person. 1. **Heredity** - is the transmission of physical characteristics from parents to children through their genes. It influences all aspects of physical appearance such as height, weight, body structures, the color of the eye, the texture of the hair and even intelligence and aptitudes, Diseases are also passed through the genes, such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity and more. These genetic factors can adversely affect the growth of a child. **[There are two biological factors that contribute to a child\'s growth and development.]** a. **Nutrition** - Nutrition becomes a vital factor in a child\'s overall development. Prior to birth, a mother\'s diet and overall health plays a role in the child\'s development. b. **Gender** - It plays a factor in cognitive maturation in that the boys tend to develop and learn differently from girls. Research suggests that boys have lower level of school readiness than girls. 2. **Intelligence** - Intelligence, specifically in emotion, means honestly evaluating and paying attention to how you feel. When you feel a certain emotion, you do your best to understand and explain it. You are aware of how your actions and emotion impact not only yourself, but, other people, as well. 3. **Environment** - Environment is observed that a well-nurtured child does better than a deprived one and the environment that they are constantly immersed in contributes to this. For instance, a good school and a loving family, build in them strong social and interpersonal skills, while excelling in academics and extracurricular activities. It is different for children who are raised in stressful environment, such as poverty and broken families. - **Geographical influence** - Living in an exciting community that has parks, libraries and community centres for group activities and sports, all play a role in how much a child is involved. Unlike those who have nowhere to go to play, nor have the opportunity to be with some other children to go outside often and spend time playing video games at home, instead of being with other children and interacting with them. The world one lives has cultural factors that help shape the child\'s thought, attitudes and behaviour. Like, in a happy family where the father and the mother are loving and nurturing and showing good role modelling, raising a well-adjusted child is not far behind. - **Parent\'s socio-economic status** - It can determine many things about the child\'s early development, like, how he views the world, what, how much and how often he eats in a day, the type of early childhood education he went to, his overall health, or how others view him. What happens in a child\'s life between the ages of two through five, impacts his later success or failure in life. - **Accidents and incidents that children experienced** - May also affect their physical development. Print and social media show that kids who have been exposed to repeated trauma could become hypersensitive to physical contact, developing in them sensorimotor problems. Shown in movies and television programs, physical and sexual abuse could lead to many physical health problems. Teachers in schools heard sad stories of kids who have been traumatized, causing them to suffer from headaches, stomach aches and other somatic symptoms. All these have bearing on human growth and development.