By Majida MEHANA
We are shaped by nature and nurture and this applies to our physical development and appearance; namely, height, weight, teeth, and hair.
In the first year of life, infants’ physical performance and appearance develop as follows:
Height and weight: Newborns are expected to follow a pattern of growth from head to toe and middle of body to extremities. Gross motor skills get refined prior to the fine motor skills required for the efficient use of hands, fingers, feet, and toes. For example, in the early months, the whole body shakes when the baby moves. It is later that the baby is able to differentiate the actions. The brain plays a major role in the implementation of the actions by giving orders to the body to move and then analysing the response and adjusting new orders accordingly.
Height and weight vary according to the genetic makeup of the child and the expected norms in the child’s culture. In general, boys tend to be taller and heavier than girls. With the growth in height and weight, we have changes in muscular development which allows the child to sit and walk. In one year, babies move from moving head from side to side, to rolling over, crawling, sitting, standing, and taking first steps (Alli, 2011).
Teeth: Signs on the gum line start to show up around four months and babies will have their first teeth from five to eight-month-old. Teething can be associated with crying, fever, restless sleep, biting, rash, rejection of food, and diarrhea. The process can be exhausting for both infants and parents. A visit to the dentist should be arranged soon after the first tooth comes out.
Hair Growth: The process is a byproduct of genetics and balanced nutrition. Newborns lose hair in the first three to six months and by the end of the first year, they have most of their head hair. The strength of the hair is affected by genetics, nutrition, and the quality of the environment. Stressful events can make a child or adult lose hair; a condition called telogen effluvium.
Children are genetically predisposed to hold a height and weight that falls along a continuum. In addition, nutrition during mother’s pregnancy and in infancy influences the child’s appearance immensely. A balanced nutrition is optimal for this age group.
Unbalanced nutrition has been associated with stunting thus preventing the child from developing as per normal. It is also important to allow opportunities for children to move freely so they could practise using their body independently and confidently.
Caring for infants and attending to their needs help them meet developmental milestones. A disruption of care routines would affect the child’s physical as well as all other aspects of interrelated development.
Small encouragements would allow the child to develop an experimental mindset which would take them further in life to become global successful people.
Reference:
Allie, R. A. (2011, October). Baby’s first year: How infants develop. https://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/features/stages-of-development#3
Garvis, S., Phillipson, S., Clarke, S., Harrison, L., McCormack, J., & Pendergast, D. (2019). Child development and learning. Oxford University Press.
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