Measurement of Growth and Development Stages

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In today’s Basic Science class, We will be discussing “Measurement of Growth and Development Changes”. We hope you enjoy the class!

MEASUREMENT OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT CHANGES

Growth is an increase in height, weight and size of living things and can be measured. There are some standard instruments for measurement that are used nowadays which were not available in ancient times.

For instance, the standard instruments used now to measure length are rulers, meter scales, measuring tapes, Vernier callipers, and screw gauges. However, ancient people used instruments like – hand span, foot, arm length, ropes, sticks, etc. to measure length.

However, we shall consider human growth in this lesson. Growth occurs as a result in an increase in the mass of cells in the body which results in changes in height, weight and size. It occurs through a process called mitosis.

Growth changes produce an increase in size as well as height and weight. When the rate of growth increases rapidly in humans, it is called a growth spurt. The most important growth spurt is the one which occurs at puberty and this spurt produces a rapid increase in both weight and height.

GROWTH CHANGES IN HEIGHT

Children grow rapidly from birth till about age 2 years. It is said that at 2 years of age, a boy has grown half his adult height while a girl at that age is slightly taller than half her adult height.

After this time, growth slows. Between the ages of 6 and 12, growth is usually gradual but steady. A human being usually attains a certain age where an increase in height stops altogether.

The common way of measuring height is by using a vertical measuring scale while length in children who are too young to stand is measured while children lie on their back on a suitable device, such as a measuring table (called a stadiometer).

 

GROWTH CHANGES IN WEIGHT

Growth changes in weight are largely dependent on nutrition. A child who feeds well will have a better weight than one that is malnourished.

Newborns normally lose about 8% of their birth weight during the first few days of life, although this weight is regained at the end of the first few weeks. A lot of physical activities occur between ages 6 to 12 and so children burn a lot of energy. During this period, there is a noticeable decrease in fatty tissue which makes them leaner and look taller.

Weight can be measured using a bathroom scale and the unit of measurement can be kilograms (kg) or pounds (lbs.).

GROWTH CHANGES IN SIZE

Changes in the size and shape of the body are caused by different segments growing at different times. Some parts of the body grow more than others during development until they reach the final adult proportions.

At birth, the head is one-quarter of the length of the body compared with about one-sixth in the adult. Body proportions change and so not all body segments grow by the same amount.

Developmental changes can be observed by the appearance of certain characteristic features and capabilities.

 

We have come to the end of this class. We do hope you enjoyed the class?

Should you have any further question, feel free to ask in the comment section below and trust us to respond as soon as possible.

In our next class, we will be talking about Human Development. We are very much eager to meet you there.

 

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