Child growth and development

Every baby comes into this world with God's blessing, but growing from infancy to adulthood is a very long process. From the moment a baby leaves his mother, he comes into the world as an independent individual and will feel unfamiliar with everything in this world, especially infants and young children, because their ability to express themselves in language is limited and they need our special care at this time.

At this time, parents should pay more attention to their children's growth. However, many parents are first-time parents and they are not very clear about what is normal for their children. Below, let us take a detailed look at children's growth and development issues.

1. Overview of children's growth and development:

Pediatric growth and development refers to the unique physiological phenomena of childhood, and also has basic characteristics different from those of adults. Growth refers to the growth of a child's body, which is mainly reflected in quantitative changes; development refers to the progressive growth of various functions, which is mainly reflected in qualitative changes. The characteristics of children's growth and development are: they have common regularities for all mankind, but also show racial, regional, ethnic or individual differences.

2. Clinical significance of physiological constants:

Physiological constants are a summary of the growth and development patterns of healthy children and are the standard for measuring children's health status. The specific commonly used physiological constants for children are as follows:

⑴Weight: Weight is an indicator to measure children's growth, development and nutritional status. The normal weight of a child at birth is about 3kg. The child gains an average of 0.7kg per month in the first six months after birth, 0.5kg per month in the second six months after birth, and 2kg per year after one year old. Commonly used formulas for calculating body weight are: for children aged 6 months, weight (kg) = 3 + 0.7 × age in months; for children aged 7 to 12 months, weight (kg) = 7 + 0.5 × (age in months - 6); for children aged over 1 year old, weight (kg) = 8 + 2 × age. Body weight is the basis for clinical medication and infusion. Rapid weight gain is often seen in obesity and gigantism. Those whose body weight is more than 15% below the standard are often seen in malnutrition, chronic wasting diseases and endocrine diseases.

⑵Height: Height is one of the important indicators reflecting bone development. The normal height at birth is about 50cm, which increases by about 25cm in the first year and about 10cm in the second year. The average increase from 2 years old to puberty is about 7cm. The height during puberty is twice that of the school age, and the growth continues for about 2-3 years. The formula "Height (cm) = 70 + 7 × age" is a reference formula for calculating the height of children aged 2 to 12 years old. People whose height is more than 30% lower than normal often suffer from dwarfism, cretinism, and malnutrition.

⑶ Head circumference: Head circumference is an indicator of the degree of development of the brain and skull. A small head circumference is seen in microcephaly; an excessively large head circumference is seen in hydrocephalus and other causes.

⑷ Chest circumference: Chest circumference mainly reflects the development of the thorax, chest and back muscles, subcutaneous fat and lungs. The normal chest circumference of a newborn is about 32cm, reaching 44cm at one year old, which is close to the head circumference. After two years old, the chest circumference gradually becomes larger than the head circumference. A small chest circumference is seen in malnutrition, and a deformed chest cage is seen in rickets, emphysema and heart disease.

⑸ Fontanelle: Fontanelle mainly reflects the development of the skull. Normally, the anterior fontanelle closes 12-18 months after birth, and the posterior fontanelle closes 2-4 months after birth. Early closure of the fontanelle is common in microcephaly; late closure of the fontanelle is common in rickets, cretinism or hydrocephalus; a full anterior fontanelle is common in increased intracranial pressure, which is an important sign of meningitis and encephalitis in infants; a sunken fontanelle is common in dehydration and extreme weight loss.

⑹Teeth: A normal number of deciduous teeth is 20, which all come out at the age of 2-2.5 years. A normal number of permanent teeth is 32, which start to erupt around the age of 6 and gradually replace the deciduous teeth. The formula for counting the number of deciduous teeth within 2 years old is: number of deciduous teeth = age in months - 4 (or 6). If tooth eruption is delayed or the order of tooth eruption is disordered, it is common in rickets, malnutrition, congenital idiocy, yellowing or damage of tooth texture (frequent use of tetracycline).

⑺Intellectual development: Intellectual development refers to neuropsychological development, which includes the gradual development process of perception, movement, language, personality, etc.

⑻ Motor development: Motor development is directly related to the development of muscles, and especially to the development of the central nervous system.

⑼ Developmental sequence: Normal child development proceeds from top to bottom, from uncoordinated to coordinated, and from coarse to fine.

⑽Language development: Language development is closely related to neural development, and also requires normal hearing and pronunciation organs. The sequence of language development is divided into four stages: pronunciation, babbling, monolingual sentences and idioms.

⑾Personality development: Personality development develops under the influence of social life and educational conditions through continuous quantitative and qualitative changes.

The above are the standards for judging the normal growth and development of children. We can see that there are actually many standards for children's growth and development, and each judgment method is different. However, it should be noted that because children are in the growth and development period, there is no need to worry too much if one or two standards are not met within a period of time.