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Early Childhood
Part 4
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Physical Development and
Health in Early
Childhood
Chapter 9
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Guideposts for Study
1. How do children's bodies change
between ages 3 and 6?
 2. What sleep patterns and
problems tend to develop during
early childhood?

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Guideposts for Study
3. How do children’s brains develop
between ages 3 and 6?
 4. What are the main motor
achievements of early childhood?

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Guideposts for Study

5. What are the nutritional needs
of young children, and what risks
are associated with undernutrition
and obesity? What are the major
health and safety risks for young
children?
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Aspects of Physiological
Development

Bodily Growth and Change
Between ages 3 and 6 children grow
rapidly
 Grow 2 to 3 inches per year
 Gain 4 to 6 pounds per year
 Boys have a slight edge in growth until
puberty

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Sleep Patterns and Problems


Sleep patterns change throughout the
growing-up years
Children in different cultures may get the
same amount of sleep each day, but its
timing may vary
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Sleep Patterns and Problems


Young children may develop elaborate
routines to put off retiring
A transitional object helps a child shift from
dependence in infancy to independence in
later childhood


Toy
Blanket
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Sleep Patterns and Problems

Sleep Disturbances and Disorders


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Walking and talking during sleep are fairly
common in early childhood
Occasional nightmares: not cause for alarm
Sleep (or night) terror: awakens in a state of
panic
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Sleep Patterns and Problems

Bed-Wetting


Enuresis (bed-wetting) is repeated urination,
especially at night
Usually, enuresis is common, not serious, and
has effective treatments available
Bell or buzzer
 Drug therapy

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Brain Development

Less Dramatic than during Infancy



Growth spurt continues to age 3
By age 6 brain is 95% of its peak volume
Rapid growth in frontal areas of brain
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Motor Development

Gross motor skills

Large muscles


Running and jumping
Fine motor skills


Small muscles
Manipulative skills involving eye-hand
coordination

Drawing or buttoning
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Motor Development

Gross and Fine Motor Skills

Systems of action


Integration of new and previously acquired skills
Gains in fine motor skills

Allows for more responsibility for personal care


Tying shoe laces
Cutting with scissors
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Motor Development

Handedness

Preference for using a particular hand
Usually evident by 3 years of age
 Is handedness genetic or learned?
 Left-handed incidence is culturally influenced

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Motor Development

2 year old
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3 years old
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Scribble
Kellogg identified 20 basic scribbles
Shape stage
Design stage
4 and 5 years old

Pictorial stage
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Health and Safety

Nutrition: Preventing Obesity
Increase in obesity is greatest among
children in low-income families
 Preschoolers need fewer calories in
proportion to their weight, but eating
patterns become more environmentally
influenced as they age

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Health and Safety
What children eat is as important as how
much they eat
 Prevention of overweight is critical,
as long-term treatment success for obesity
is limited
 Overweight children tend to be
overweight adults

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Health and Safety

Malnutrition
Underlying global cause in more than half
of all deaths before age 5
 Can affect growth, physical well-being,
and cognitive and psychosocial
development

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Health and Safety

Food Allergies
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
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90% are attributed to 7 foods
Increase in the prevalence in the past 10 yrs.
Oral Health

Permanent teeth, which begin to develop long
before they appear at about age 6, may be
affected if thumb-sucking does not stop by age 4
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Health and Safety

Oral Health
Tooth decay in early childhood often
stems from overconsumption of sweetened
milk and juices in infancy with lack of
regular dental care
 Tooth decay has dramatically reduced
since 1970s, but this trend has reversed
since the 1990’s

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Health and Safety
 Accidental
Injuries and Deaths
 Automobile
 Seat
accidents
belts, car, and booster seats are
required
 Children under 13 should ride in back
seat to avoid air bag fatalities
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Health and Safety

Accidental Injuries and Death
Kindergarten students walking to school
 Home accidents – most common

 Fires,
drowning in bathtubs, poisonings, or
falls
 Childproof caps on medication and other
dangerous household products
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Health and Safety

Health in Context: Environmental
Influences
Socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity
 Disparities in access to health resources
 Homelessness
 Exposure to smoking, air pollution, and
pesticides
