Unit 1 - Infancy

Question 1

What is growth?

Answer 1

• Increase in a measurable quantity such as length and weight or other dimensions (e.g. head circumference)
• Growth rate of boys and girls are different so they have different percentile charts (premature babies have a separate section of the chart)
• Healthy newborns double their birth weight by 4-5 months and triple it by the time they reach a year old

Question 2

What is development?

Answer 2

• Acquisition (gaining) of skills and abilities
• From head to toe, first babies will control their head, then control over their body to enable them to sit and then to have control over their legs to allow them to crawl and walk
• From the inside to the outside, infants learn to control their movements in their body first, then in their arms and legs and then they can develop control in the smaller muscles in their fingers - gross and fine motor skills

Question 3

What are the principles of growth?

Answer 3

Growth is continuous but it isn’t always smooth due to:
- DNA
- Nutrition and diet/lifestyle
- Environmental factors (e.g. pollution)
- Illness and disease
- Growth spurt - infancy and puberty

Question 4

What is the definition of milestones?

Answer 4

An ability achieved by most children by a certain age e.g. walking, expressing emotions, talking.

Question 5

What is the definition of developmental norms?

Answer 5

A description of an average set of expectations with respect to a young child’s development e.g. by the age of 12 months a child can stand alone