General Patterns of Physical Growth
Written by Joseph Lao, Ph.D.
There are many reasons for studying the physical growth of children. In her book, The
Developing Child
, Helen Bee provides four reasons. These are because the child's growth:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Makes new behaviors possible
Determines the child's experience
Affects others' responses to the child
Affects the child's self-concept
To this we may add that studying child growth provides caregivers a set of benchmarks against
which they can determine whether the growth of any specific child is within normal limits.
For the sake of brevity, the physical growth of children between conception and 18 years of age
will be the focus of this discussion. If you are interested in learning about growth beyond 18
years of age please let me know and I can post information about physical growth during
adulthood.
For the purpose of this discussion, physical growth refers to the growth of the body and the
nervous system. The growth of the ability to use these to perform voluntary behaviors is called
motor development and will be discussed separately under the heading of motor development
(click here for a direct link). Also, in order to make it easier to focus on any specific age, this
discussion will be broken up into different age periods. These are:
-
Conception - birth (Prenatal)
0-2 years (Infancy)
2-11 years (Childhood)
11-18 years (Adolescence)
It is common for developmental psychologists to separate the 2-11 year old period into early,
middle, and late childhood. However, the approach adopted here will cover all of the most
important changes anyway. You may jump ahead to any specific age period by clicking on it's
name above.
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General Patterns of Physical Growth
Written by Joseph Lao, Ph.D.
General Patterns
Cephalocaudal: There are two general patterns of physical growth. The first consists of
development starting at the top of the body and working its way down, i.e., from the head to the
feet. This is called the cephalocaudal pattern of development. What this means is that the
development of the head and brain tends to be more advanced (in the sense that it occurs first)
than the rest of the body. This is evident from very early in development and characterizes the
development of human children. The cephalocaudal pattern of development is most pronounced
during the prenatal period (when the head may make up more than half of the baby's length),
decreases by birth (when the head comprises about 25% of the neonate's body length), and
gradually reaches adult levels by adolescence (when the head comprises about 10% of the
body's length). This pattern is largely complete by the beginning of adulthood, though of course
other aspects of development continues throughout life.
Proximodistal: The second general pattern of physical growth consists in the tendency for
growth to start at the center of the body and work its way outward, toward the extremities. This
is called the proximodistal pattern. Thus, the head and trunk of the body develop (grow) first,
followed by the arms and legs.
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