needs of children

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Unit - II Fr. Vincent Crasta

Needs of Children

Physical Development:

Body Size - Conditions influencing variations in Body Size; Psychological significance of Body

Size.

Bones Ossification, importance of Ossification.

Muscles and Fat Effects of Fat Muscle Ratio,

Teeth Psychological importance of Teeth.Development of the Nervous system.

NEEDS OF CHILDRENINRODUCTION:

A need is something that is necessary for humans to live a healthy life. Needs are distinguished from

wants because a deficiency would cause a clear negative outcome, such as dysfunction or death. Needs

can be objective andphysical, such as food and water, or they can be subjective and psychological,

such as the need for self-esteem. On a societal level, needs are sometimes controversial, such as the

need for a nationalized health care system. Understanding needs and wants is an issue in the fields of

politics, social science, and philosophy.

Needs or motives defined as state with in an organism that drives the behavior towards a

particular goal.

There are six things that children need while they grow:

1. Children need a sense of Significance /importance2. Need for Security

3. The need for Acceptance

4. Children need to love and be loved

5. Children need praise

6. Need for discipline

1. Children need a sense of Significance:

To build a sense of significance it is necessary to follow below said practices:

a. Parents attitude towards themselves: is basic and will after their childs self-esteem. If

parents have a sense of worth, of themselves, they will convey a sense of worth to their child.

b. Letting children to help around the home: To complement the child early when the child

does small jobs gives a sense of significance later daily chores give a sense of regular

accomplishment. Parent should avoid the painful phrases oh you cant do that

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somethinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necessaryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physicalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subjectivehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-esteemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_sciencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somethinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necessaryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physicalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subjectivehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-esteemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_sciencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy


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c. Introducing children to others: Ones name is awfully (terribly) important to a child as

well as an adult. When parent or other think a child worth of introduction by name, it helps

contribute to developing a sense of worth

d. Allowing children to speak for themselves: Parents often humiliate children by answering

for them. It is rude for parents to respond to a question asked of a child. If so doing they signalthat the child is insignificant and not qualified to speak up.

e. Giving the child the privilege of choice and respect opinions whenever possible:

Personality develops through making decisions. Children should be given many opportunities

to choose, should clean to live with the results of their decisions. When parents allow children

to choose we give them a sense of worth.

f. Spending time with the children: If parents do not take time for their children, children

will take time from them in unpleasant ways such as whining (screaming), fighting, and other

angry behavior patterns

g. Encouraging the feeling of worth and significance by trusting child occasionally with

things which surprise the child: Children should grow in responsibility and accomplishment

as they are trusted. And to trust them at time with things which surprise can give them a big

boost to ward the sense of worth which is so basic to all of life.

2. Need for Security:

A child craves security. A child has an inner need to be certain, to be safe, to have solid

ground under which they experiences fear when familiar is not present. Thoughtful parents

want to build security for their children and reduce the number of experiences which create

insecurity.

Conditions which create insecurity:

a. Prenatal conflict: In one study of troubled teenagers the 3 most frequently mentioned

reasons for using drugs in order of times mentioned were parental conflict, desire for

personality change and peer group pressure. Few things are more threatening to a child than to

see those the child knows best, on whom life depends, as antagonists (opponent) who are

continually quarrelling. This does not mean parents should never argue in front of the children.

If the child observes love between parents following a disagreement, the child is probably

better equipped to meet conflict than the child who never knew parents had differences. This

however is in contrast to parents who continuously conflicts.

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b. Mobility: Many of todays families are continually on move. More than one fourth of the

population moves each year. Moving to a new community forces a child to adjust to new

friends, a new school, a new house and many other new experiences. Such children easily

develop feelings of insecurity.

c. Lack of proper discipline: To enjoy security and a sense of well-being a child needs somerules for life. The most insecure children come from homes where there are no clear boundaries

for their behavior. A 17 years old girl found it difficult to believe that God loved her because

she could no longer believe that God loved her, because she could no longer believe in human

love. She was miserable. Love was poorly communicated at home. She never really knew for

sure that she was loved or even wanted.

d. Absence of parents: If both parents are busy in jobs and child comes from school, parents

absence makes insecure.

e. Continual criticism: Children are crushed if they feel parents do not like them, constantly

criticize them and do not have time to spare.

f. Things rather than persons: Children feel insecure even though the things are provided

and given all that he wants, child needs persons more than things.

g. Insecure parents: Talking in front of the child regarding- cost of living, rising taxes,

economic depression, crop failure, natural disaster, war, job insecurity and a multitude of other

problems, makes the child insecure and fear.

What builds Security?

a. Security between father and mother: Father and mother love for each other is most

important for the child to be secured.

b. A rich and continuing love of parents for child: Through the parents loving care, the

children acquire the first sense of being safe in a strange new world. To feel secure children

need to be held, hugged and told they are loved and love helps children face whatever comes.

c. Family togetherness: Children feel a sense of stability and security when they experience

strong family unity. Studies show that children start running with the wrong crowd when they

lack a feeling of togetherness in the family.

d. Regular routine: Regular times for doing things in the family builds security. A usual

schedule for meals, family chores, going to bed is good and builds healthy relationships.

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e. Proper discipline: Over permissive, indecisive parents who leave children to the mercy of

every passing whim or impulse are a real threat to a childs security. Such children never know

clearly what is expected of them or what they may or may not do. Discipline administered

fairly and in love, beings peace and order into childrens lives.

f. Touching your child: Considerable attenuation has been given to what touching others doesin building security and acceptance touch skin to skin is rightly stressed today as an imp ortant

part of a childs experience. Breast feeding, holding the child frequently and speak, is

experiences the child more secure.

g. A sense of belonging: Belong is a deep psychological need. Children want to be more a

part of a family, a class or a team. A sense of belonging is essential for childrens security and

feeling of worth. And when children feel they belong in their family and are of real worth there,

it is not a big step also to feel accepted, loved and of worth to others.

3. The need for Acceptance:

As physical health depends mainly on proper food and exercise, so emotional health

depends on the proper esteem we have for ourselves. This develops through acceptance and

sense of usefulness. If the atmosphere of the home includes a happy, satisfied, acceptance for

children they feel valued and can stand strong. The way children are accepted in the early years

determines to a great extend the esteem they have of themselves and others when they reach

adulthood.

Parents are a kind of mirror in which children see themselves. This influences their

perception of themselves and the kind of persons they see themselves within. They absorb early

the emotional climate of the home and since they are surrounded by care love or by selfishness

and tenseness.

Why do children fall a lack of acceptance:

1. Constantly criticizing children creates feeling of failure, rejection and inadequacy.Eg:

One young adult describing his growing up years said I felt I seldom, if ever did anything

right. My parent criticized me for doing things and for not doing things. I experienced continual

frustration and finally developed on inner fear of attempting anything myself.

2. Comparing children with other conveys a lack of acceptance: No two children are alike

and to compare one with another is great injustice. A mother sees her neighbours baby and

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compares, her child must measure up. Continual comparison leads to inferiority feelings which

harm personality development.

3. Expecting children to achieve their parents unfulfilled dreams causes them to feel

unaccepted: A mother may have wanted to be a doctor, but she never made it. So from the

time her daughter is born she plans for her to go to medical school. Many parents withoutthinking want their children to fulfill the hopes they never realized. Imposing such expectations

children causes them to feel unaccepted.

4. Overprotecting children often contribute to feelings of un-acceptance: Under

protection is less dangerous than over protection. A parent obviously should seek to protect a

child from danger. Yet by overprotecting the child, the spirit of adventure can be damaged,

instilling a spirit of fear rather than faith.

5. Expecting too much from children builds feeling of un-acceptances: A child can sense

even the unspoken anxiousness of a parent to have a model child. Trying too hard to attain the

expected behavior can fill the child with feelings of inadequacy rather than self-respect and

acceptance. Acceptance means respecting a childs feelings and personality which letting the

child knows that wrong behavior is unacceptable.

What builds sense of acceptance?

a. Recognizing children as unique: No two children are alike, each child is different. To treat

children all alike invites problems. Some times parents say I cant understand what went

wrong with our youngest, we treated from all alike. That very attempt to treat them all alike

may have caused the problem. To recognize different abilities, to avoid comparison of children

and to treat each child as unique gives a sense of acceptance.

b. Helping children find satisfaction in achievements: A wise father stands by his child

when he attempts all kinds of adventurous things. In standing by, rather than being

overprotective, he is not only accepting his child but preparing the child for life.

c. Letting the children know that parents love them want them and really enjoy them:

Children sense quickly the nature of the parents feelings towards them. Happy are those

children continuously reminded by parents that they want them and enjoy them to the fullest.

They know it when the parents take time to be with them, to help them with their little projects

and when the parents take every opportunity to demonstrate love for them.

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d. Accepting childrens friends: Friends are terribly important to children. Home should be a

place where children can freely bring their friends and a place where their friends love to come.

Letting children know parents appreciate their friends will contribute to their feeling of

acceptance.

e. Maintain an honest, genuine relationship with children: Too often parents seem todemand perfection of children. This is harmful to parents and the children. When we are honest

enough to confess our own failures and the fact that we are parents are not perfect, we relieve a

lot of uncomfortable tension and give hope to the children. If parents could more easily admit

their mistake and even laugh at them the atmosphere of many homes would greatly improve.

The pretense of perfection is played out repeatedly by many parents. This attitude contributes to

the feeling that a child is not accepted. Perhaps child is afraid of dark and fusses (protest) about

going to bed. If parents honestly say I know how you feel. I used to be afraid of the dark too

parents will help child overcome fear. If they call child a coward (anju pukkali) and shame for

being afraid, parents let the child feel unacceptable.

f. Listening to what children say: Really listening is one of the best ways of saying I accept

you. True communication depends on acceptance. Whenever we hear some one gasp at what

we have said, we immediately close up. But when someone lisgtens with a deep caring for us,

to our good and bad, to our joys and heartaches, our success and failures, we know that persons

accepts us. A child feels accepts when the parents takes time to listen. Love for the childs is

unusually spelled TIME

g. Treating children as persons of worth: The way to teach the child respect and is to respect

the child. Children have a remarkable ability to live up to their reputation. Call a child a rascal

and the child will probably act like one. Call the child bad and the child is likely to prove it. On

the other hand parents who trust their children and expect the best of them usually find the

children living up to their expectations.

h. Allow children to grow and develop in their own unique way: Parents have a strong

tendency to exert (apply) pressure on their children- especially on the oldest child, parent

compare with neighbors. They show of the childs achievements. They want their children to be

different, to excel in behavior and accomplishments. They demand grown-up behavior almost

immediately.

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club house in the back yard. The father said he would but he had no time because of business.

Once day boy met with accident and was in hospital in a critical condition. The father stood by

the beside dying son, the last thing son said was well, dad I guess we will never get to build that

club house.

e. Love involves trust: Mosely tells how he was reared in the backwoods of the southernmountains. Life was rugged, nobody had much of anything. But inspired by his parents, he won

college scholarship. On the day he left for college his father summed up his anxieties and

expectations in the words son I dont know how much a bout (short time) the world, into

which you are going but I trust you said Mosely. I never forgot those words

f. Love requires a willingness to listen: Most parents find it hard to listen. Parents are busy

with the burdens of work and are often tired. A child chatter seems unimportant yet parents

learn much more by listening than by talking especially from a child. Listening carefully to the

little hearts and complaints and joys of a child communicates real love. Giving child our

complete attention and looking into our childs eyes when speaking conveys love. The parents

who take time to understand and what the child says early in life will be able to understand the

child later in life. And parents who listen when a child is small will have a child who listens to

them later.

g. Love means sharing experiences: Sharing in experiences of work and play tells children

that their parents love and accept them. A sense of unity, understand and communication

depends upon a feeling of sharing and togetherness. When this sense of sharing is absent a

feeling of loneliness and a lack f love is present. Meal time, bed time, leisure time, work time,

play time and all the other times for family sharing ought to be enjoyed as much as possible

because all of these provide opportunities to love and be loved.

h. Love builds upon and comfortable relationships: A childs most important reason for

wanting to be good is the love of parents. When that is lost the child has little motivation to be

good. Love needs to be present at all the time and not conditional. Dr. David Good Man

advises, Never say to the child, I will love you if . Nor say I will love you but.. Just

say I love you and mean it, supporting your words with care and embrace and care and

comfort and merriment and laughter and all that a child needs to feel absolutely assured of

being loved. Love always looks deeper than childhood the child search for identity. Love

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listens even when it hurts. The run away child and one who feels uncomfortable in a situation

where there is a lack of love. Children really live by love, not by shelter, food or clothing.

Love recognizes persons as more important than things: It seems difficult for many parents to

learn that there is more security in love than in things. Child may receive wonderful gifts and

still feel hated because they need parents not parents. Deep within every childs heart is thedesire for love. No cold gift will ever replace this. Love is taking time for each other. It is a

family walking and running in the woods and park. It is happiness that comes from doing extra

favors for each other. Love is joining hands in some project. It is playing a game all can join in

and enjoy love is laughing at ourselves and giving another a sense of belonging. It is talking

about a common concern or praying together. Love is listening. It is any word or act which

creates that feeling that I love and I am loved.

5. Children need Praise:

The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated. All of us in the

glow of feelings we have pleased, want to do more to please. When we are told we have done

well, we want to do better. The art of praising is the beginning of the fine art of pleasing.

Failing to praise ones children is a common fault of parents. Many children seldom hear a

complement yet they are scolded if they fail.

The child who does not receive normal praise and appreciation searches for it in odd,

sometime hurtful ways. On ounce of praise can accomplish more than a ton of faulty findings.

And if one looks for it something worthy of praise can be found in every child. Everyday a

small girl came to school dirty. The teacher thought it looked like the some dirt day after day.

Being kind and understanding she did not want to hurt girls feeling or embarrass her. She

knew the girl was not getting the right attention at home. May be her parents did not care, but

the teacher did. You have very pretty hands the teacher told her one day. Why dont you go

to the rest room and wash them so people can see how really lovely they are? Delighted the girl

washed her lovely hands and cam back beaming (happy). She held up her hands proudly for her

teacher. Ever since, after that she was one of the neatest students in school. By praising the

good points she improved.

Guidelines in giving praise:

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1. Praise childrens performance not their personality. Parents should praise a child for

accomplishment rather than for character. After a kind word praising a childs character such as

you have a real good boy the child often responds with bad behavior why? The child may be

fearful that he cannot live up to the goodness expected. The child feels he must in some way,

deny what he senses is not true.2. Praise what children are responsible for rather than that which they cannot help. To

praise a child for such things can build pride and conceit (self-importance). But to praise a child

for acts of kindness and generosity does not spoil a child or make a child proud. A child needs

such approval for feelings of worth. The proud or boastful (arrogant) child lacks a sense of

personal worth.

3. Recognition that praise is especially needed from people who are important to a child:

Parents are the most important persons in the world to the child. The childs world is small.

Parents are the centre of that world. And when parents praise a child, the child feels loved and

secure.

4. Praise sincerely: Children knew when you are sincere, they cannot be fooled. When you

praise the child you make sure that it should get into the heart of the child, hence child feels the

smoothness of the appraisal.

5. Praise children for what they do on their own initiative: To do a worthy thing without

being told deserves special management. Such commendation leads to still greater self-reliance

and confidence. Attitudes as well as achievement are worthy of praise. To compliment a child

who has tried yet lost gives the child courage to keep trying and motivation for the tough times

every person must face.

6. Keep in mind that, the sooner praise comes the better: If parent is on heard when the

success is realized it is good. If the parent is present when a child has tried and not succeeded

and then gives an encouraging word it is even better.

7. Remember that parents attitudes are just as important as their words in giving

encouragement: The way a parent stops to listen, the way a parent shares in the success or

failure, the tone of a parents voice- all these create an atmosphere which encourages or

discourages the child. If a child lives with praise, the child learns to appreciate. No other thing

encourages a child to love life, to seek accomplishments and gain confidence more than proper,

sincere praise- not flattery but honest complements when the child does well.

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Five Principles of good discipline:

1. Develop respect for the parents: This is important not for the parents ego, but because the

parent child relationship provides the basis of all future relationship for the child. If you want

your child to accept your values when he reaches his teen years, then you must be worthy of

this respect during the younger days.2. Recognize that communication often improves after punishment: After the emotional

ventilation following punishment, a child often wants to express love by hugging the parent.

The parent should respond with open arms and use the opportunity to communicate love and

the reason for the punishment.

3. Control without nagging (irritating): It is all too easy to tell a child to do something when

both the parents and the child know that this is just a prelude (introduction) to several steps

which result in anger. This makes it difficult for the parents to expect instant obedience because

the child knows the game too and is more than willing to play.

4. Parents should not saturate the child with excessive materialism: He feels that

temporary deprivation heightens appreciation. Excessive materialism diminishes the thrill of

receiving. Although it sounds paradoxical (impossible) parents actually cheat the child of

pleasure when you give him too much.

5. Avoid extreme in control and love: If a parent is too harsh, the child suffers the

humiliation of total domination. The child lives in constant fear and is unable to make

decisions. Excessive permissiveness is equally tragic because the child is taught that the world

is ones own private domain (area) and disrespects those who are closest.

Physical Development:Body Size - Conditions influencing variations in Body Size; Psychologicalsignificance of Body Size.

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Growth during early childhood proceeds at a slow rate as compared with the rapid rate

of growth in babyhood. Early childhood is a time of relatively even growth, though there are

seasonal variations for increase in weight and weight. There are individual differences in all

aspects of physical development. Children of superior intelligence for example tend to be taller

in early childhood than those of average or below-average intelligence and to shed their

temporary teeth sooner. While sex differences in height and weight are not pronounced,

ossification (change into) of the bones and shedding of the temporary teeth are more advanced,

age for age, in girls than in boys. Because children from higher socioeconomic groups tend to

be better nourished and receive better prenatal and postnatal care, variations in height, weight

and muscular development are in their favor.

Physical development in early childhood

Height: The average annual increase in height is three inches. By the age of six, the average

child measures 46.6 inches.

Weight: The average annual increase in weight is 3 to 5 pounds. At age six, children should

weight approximately seven times as much as they did at birth. Average girl weighs 48.5

pounds and boy weights 49 pounds.

Body proportions: Body proportions change markedly, and the baby look disappears. Facialfeatures remain small but the chin becomes more pronounced (strongly marked) and neck

elongates (lengthen). There is a gradual decrease in the stockiness of the trunk (below shoulder

and above hips) and the body tends to become cone shaped, with a flattened abdomen, broader

and flatter chest, and shoulders that are broader and squarer. The arms and legs lengthen and

may become spindly and the hands and feet grow bigger.

Body build: Difference in body build become apparent for the first time in early childhood.

Some children have an endomorphic or flabby (soft), fat body build, some have a mesomorphic

or sturdy (strong), muscular body and build and some have an ectomorphic or relatively thin

body built.

Bones and Muscles: The bones ossify (turn into) at different rates in different parts of the

body, following the laws of developmental direction. The muscles become larger, stronger and

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heavier, with the result that children look thinner as early childhood progress, even though they

weigh more.

Fat: Children who tend toward flabby have more adipose (fatty) than muscular tissue; those

who tend towards sturdy have more muscular than adipose tissue and those with a thin body

build have both small muscles and little adipose tissue.Teeth: During the first four to six months of early childhood, the last four baby teeth- the back

molars (grinding)-erupt(throw away). During the last half year of early childhood, the baby

teeth begin to be replaced by permanent teeth. The first to come out are the front central

incisors- the first baby teeth to appear. When early childhood ends, the child generally has one

or two permanent teeth in front and some gaps where permanent teeth will eventually erupt.

BODY SIZE

Body size is controlled by hereditary and environmental influences. The Hereditarycontrol comes from the growth hormone secreted by the anterior lobe (former part of ear) of the

pituitary glad- a small located at the base of the brain. If growth is to proceed normally, the

hormone must be produced in the right amounts and at the right times. If too little is produced,

growth ceases earlier than normal. If too much is produced, over- growth results.

Body size is measured in terms of height and weight. While height and weight follow

similar patterns of development-with slow gains in one paralleled by slow gains in the other

and vice versa. The total growth in height from birth to maturity is less than the total growth in

weight.

Conditions influencing variations in body size:

1. Family influences: Family influences both hereditary and environmental. Genetic

factors make some children fatter and thus heavier than others. Environment helps to

determine whether hereditary potentials will be reached. At every age, environment has

greater influence on weight then on height.

2. Nutrition: Well- nourished children are taller and reach puberty sooner than poorly

nourished children. Poor nourishment during puberty can be preventing the attainment

of hereditary growth potentials.

3. Emotional disturbances: Persistent emotional disturbance cause an over production of

adrenal steroids which inhibit production of the pituitarys growth hormone. This delays

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the growth spurt in late childhood and prevents children from reaching the height they

would otherwise attain.

4. Sex: Boys tend to be taller and heavier. Then girls expect between the ages of 12-15

years. Differences in weight after sexual maturity are due to the heavier bones and

muscles of the boys.5. Ethnicity: Variations in body size may be due to ethnic (races) background. Children

of Finnish stock, for example, have been reported to be larger than those of Italian and

Mexican ancestry. Typically, black children are more slender in build than white

children though they are height in approximately the same if they come from similar

socio-economic backgrounds.

6. Intelligence: All other things equal, children of high intelligence tend to be slightly

taller and heavier than children of low intelligence. Children of high academic

achievement also tend to be taller and heavier

7. Socio-Economic: Age for age, children from homes of low socio-economic status are

smaller than other children.

8. Health: Children whose health is good and who suffer from only infrequent and minor

illnesses tend to be larger than who are sickly.

9. Endocrine functioning: (certain glands): Normal endocrine functioning results in

normal size. By contrast, deficiencies in the growth hormone leads to dwarfism (under

sized person) while an excess of the growth hormone leads to gigantism.

10. Prenatal influences: Unfavorable prenatal conditions, due to malnutrition, stress, or

excessive smoking of the mother, tend to stunt growth in the postnatal years.

11. Body build: Body build, whether metamorphic, mesomorphic or endomorphic(flabby),

will affect childrens size mosomorphic (sturdy) children, for example, look larger than

endomorphic or greater height.

Psychological significance of Body size:

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The psychological importance of body size to children depends on who others,

especially peers, react to their size. Most children are not body-size conscious except

when there is a marked deviation from the norm. Being slightly shorter than other

children does not affect childrens popularity. However, because of the prestige and

respect associated with tallness, being slightly taller than other members of the peer

group is a social asset.

While peer reactions to their body size play a more important role than adult

reactions, children are not unaffected by adult reactions. However, if parents are

concerned about their childrens being too short or too thin and if they constantly urge

them to eat more than they want so that they will grow bigger, children are likely to

become concerned and wonder if there is something wrong with them.Because deviations in weight are far more common than deviations in height,

they have a greater psychological impact on the child than do deviations in height.

Most often deviations in weight are on the plus side. The majority of excessively fat

children become aware, even before they enter school, of how others feel about their

obesity (fatness). They know that adults feel sorry for them and that peers regard them

as slow and clumsy (tactless-no najook). Obese (sthoolakaaya) children often develop

severe feelings of personal inadequacy. They may compensate by eating even more

than before, thus becoming fatter and even less acceptable to their peers.

BONES development:

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Bone development consists of growth in bone size, change in the number of bones, and

change in their composition. It follows the same general trend as growth in size, that is bone

development is mot rapid during the first year of life, then relatively slow up to the time of

puberty, and then once again more rapid.

Bones grow in length at the ends, the epiphyses (kasi-without depend), where a strip ofcartilage (soft bone) separates the bone shaft or diaphysis (transparent tissue) from other bony

masses. The original cartilage at the epiphysis is gradually converted into bone and as long as

the epiphysis and the diaphysis do not fuse, the bones will continue to grow. Stimulation by the

sex hormone at puberty is responsible for the fusion of the two portions and ultimately the

limitation of growth. Bones grow in width by adding new bone tissue at their out edges.

Ossification:

Ossification or hardening of the bones is mainly postnatal beginning in the early part of

the first year and ending during puberty. The process begins at the ossification centre in the

cartilage (elastic tissue in the bone) and gradually spreads throughout the bone. When the

process is finished, each bone has its characteristic shape.

Ossification proceeds at different rates for different parts of the body. The fontanels or

soft spots of the cranium (skull) for eg, are closed in over 50% of all babies by the age of 18

months and in nearly all by 2 years. Ossification of the long bones of the legs, on the other hand

does not occur until puberty.

Ossification is largely dependent upon the secretion of a hormone from the thyroid

glands. A deficiency of this hormone will delay ossification. There is also close relationship

between ossification and nutrition. A dietary deficiency may mean inadequate mineralization

and delayed ossification. The child may then have bowed legs and other skeletal deformities

because the bones are not hard enough to withstand the pressure from the weight of the body.

Importance of Ossification:

Because of bones of babies are soft, they can be easily deformed. The shape of the head

for example can be flattened if babies spend most of their sleep time on their backs, or the chest

can be flattened if they sleep too long on their stomachs. Even in the elementary school years,

bone deformities can result from too short shoes or from sitting in a cramped (ikkattu) position

at a school desk.

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Psychologically, ossification is important because it effects childrens appearances and

this is one of the important bases on which others judge them. Should their heads become

flattened for example, because they were permitted to sleep mainly on their backs during

babyhood, they may judge as less attractive them their facial features would justify.

Furthermore, because bones in childhood are less subject to fractures or breaks than theywill be after ossification, the physical and psychological hazards of accidents are less serious

than they will be later.

Muscles and Fat:

Besides the weight contributed by the bones, increase in body weight comes mainly

from muscle and adipose or fatty tissue. In the early years of childhood, adipose (fatty) tissue

develops more rapidly than muscles.

Children who tend towards endomorphy have more soft adipose tissues than muscular

tissue. Those who tend towards mesomorphy have a predominance of muscle and connective

tissue. And those who incline towards ectomorphy do not have a predominance of either the

muscle are slender (thin) and the adipose tissue is minimal.

Children who have broad, thick muscles have superior physical strength, those with

smaller muscles are usually more agile (active) and show better coordination in skilled

activities. Some children have muscles that fatigue easily; others have muscles that show great

endurance (literally meaning- patience).

The amount of adipose tissue children have depends not only on their eating habits but

also on their hereditary endowments and body builds. Among children over 13 years of age, sex

differenes in the amount of adipose tissue become increasingly great. Differences are also

associated with socioeconomic status. Children from the upper socioeconomic groups tend to

have greater amount of muscles and subcutaneous fat from 8 through 11 years of age and they

tend to be heavier than children from lower socioeconomic group.

Effects of Fat-Muscle Ratio:The relative amount of adipose tissue and muscles affect children both directly and

indirectly. Directly they influence the type and quality of childrens behavior children with a

predominance of muscle tissue have the physique to excel in sports and games. This raises their

prestige in the eyes of their peers. By contrast, excessively fat children tend to be poor in sports

and to be excluded from peer activities.

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Indirect effect of the fat-muscle ratio comes from childrens reactions to their body

builds. This is greatly influenced by knowledge of how others react to different body builds. As

early as kindergarten age it has been reported that many children realize that a mesomorphic

build is more favorably judged as an ectomorphic or endomorphic build. In fact, they learn that

there is cultural aversion to a child who is a chubby a fadt that they have learned fromcomments other make about fat children and from the way fat children are treated by their

peers.

TEETH DEVELOPMENT:The growth of teeth is a continuous process from the prenatal month, when the

teeth begin to a form in the jaw, until 21 to 25 years of age, when the last of the

permanent teeth, the wisdom teeth, reach their full size. During this time the child

develops two sets of teeth- baby or temporary teeth and the permanent teeth,.

Ordinarily, the first temporary tooth cults through the babys gum between the

sixth and eighth months, but the time of eruption depends upon health, heredity,

nutrition before and after birth, race, sex and other factors. By 9 months, the average

baby has three teeth. Between 2 and 2 and half years of age, most young children have

all 20 of their baby teeth.

The sequence of eruption of the temporary teeth is more important than the age

of eruption. The lower teeth, as a rule, appear before the upper. Irregularity in the

sequence of eruption is likely to throw the jaws out of position and result in

malocclusion, or poor alignment of the teeth. This may permanently affect the shape of

the lower part of the face and cause the permanent teeth to be out of line.

After the temporary teeth have erupted, much activity goes on inside the gums at

the permanent teeth begin to calcify. The order of calcifying is the same as the later

order of eruption. On the average, the child at 6 years of age has 1 or 2 permanent

teeth, at 10 years, 14 to 16; and 13 years, 27 or 28. The last four of the permanent

teeth, the wisdom teeth, erupt between the age of 17 and 25 years.

Psychological significance of teeth:

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1. Effect on emotions: The physical discomfort accompanying the cutting of

temporary teeth is partially responsible for the heightened emotionally

characteristic of the second and third years of the life. This is true also of

permanent teeth that erupt in areas of the gums where there were no temporary

teeth.

2. Disturbance in body equilibrium: Pain and discomfort from teething and poisons

thrown into the blood stream from carious teeth upset body equilibrium. This is

often responsible for retardation in normal growth and for eating, sleeping and

other behavior problems.

3. Insignia of maturity: Permanent teeth are psychologically important as an

indication to others that children are leaving babyhood behind and are reaching anew level of maturity.

4. Effect on appearance: If the child pulls out a loose baby tooth- hoping to speed

up the insignia of maturity in this way- the interval before the permanent tooth

erupts may be long enough for the gum to shrink and cause the permanent tooth

to come in crooked. This may not disturb young children but it will when they

reach the appearance- conscious age of adolescence in addition, small baby

teeth, side by side with large permanent teeth, give to childs face a comical

look.

5. Effect on speech: Before the permanent teeth erupt, there is normally a gap

where the baby teeth have fallen out. Few children go through this transition

without lisping- the softening of harsh sounds. If the period of transition is

lengthened by premature pulling of baby teeth, the longer the period of lisping

and the great the likelihood that it will persist even when the permanent teeth

erupt.

Development of the Nervous system:

The growth of the nervous system is very rapid before birth and in the first 3 to4

years after birth. Growth during the prenatal period consists primarily of an increase in

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the number and size of nerve cells. Later growth consists primarily of the development

of immature cells present at birth. After the age of 3 or 4, growth of the nervous system

proceeds at a relatively slow rate.

At birth, brain weight is one-eights of total weight; at 10 years, one-eighteenth;

at 15 years, one-thirtieth; and at maturity, one fortieth. This pattern is characteristic of

the growth of both the cerebrum and the cerebellum. The rate of gain in weight of both

is greatest during the first 2 years of life. The cerebellum, which plays an important

role in body balance and postural control, triple its weight during the first year of post

natal life. By the eighth year, the brain is nearly mature in size, but the development of

inter cerebral association tracts and the building up of gray matter are hardly complete.

Growth is thus internal and cannot be measured in terms of size or weight.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

needs of children

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