Chapter 9: Exam 3 (Skipped) Flashcards
Middle Childhood
Defined as ages from 6 to 12
Growth Patterns
- Boys and Girls continue to gain over two inches in height per year until the growth spurt begins
- Average gain in weight is 5 to 7 pounds in a year (less stocky and more slender)
Growth Spurt
A period during which growth advances at a dramatically rapid rate compared with other periods
Nutrition and Growth
- Average child’s body weight doubles in middle childhood
- A Great deal of energy in physical activity and play therefore, school children eat more than preschoolers to fuel this growth and activity
a. 4 to 6-year-olds need 1,400 to 1,800 calories per day
b. average 7 to 10-year-olds require 2,000 calories per day
Gender Similarities & Differences
(Physical Growth)
- Boys are slightly heavier and taller than girls through the age of 9 or 10
- Girls begin their adolescent growth spurt and surpass boys in height and weight until about 13 or 14 years old. Then boys spurt and grow heavier & taller
(this process is paralleled by increased muscle strength in both genders)
Weight
(Obesity)
- 16% - 25% of children and adolescents in the U.S. are overweight or obese.
- Latin American boys are more likely than European Americans to be overweight.
- African American girls are more likely than European Americans to be overweight
- Obese children are more likely to develop high blood pressure and high cholesterol
- Obese children are more likely to develop diabetes
- Obese children are more likely to develop breathing problems (like asthma), joint problems, fatty liver disease, gallstones, and acid reflux.
- They are also often rejected by their peers
Causes of Being Overweight
Heredity:
a. some inherit the tendency to burn up extra calories
b. some inherit the tendency to turn extra calories into fat
Other factors:
Consumptions of sugary drinks (sodas)
Less healthful foods at school or daycare
Advertising for fattening foods
Lack of regular physical activity
Limited access to healthful affordable foods
Availability of “high energy” drinks (high sugar)
Large portion sizes (supersizing)
Lack of breastfeeding
TV and other media
Overweight parents serve as examples of poor exercise habits, encouraging overeating, and keeping unhealthful foods in home.
Motor Development
School years are marked by increases in child speed, agility, and balance.
Gross Motor Skills
(Middle Childhood)
- Age 6 - children are hopping, jumping, and climbing
- Age 6 or 7 - children are capable of pedaling and balancing on a bicycle
- Age 8 to 10 - children are showing balance, coordination, and strength allowing them to engage in gymnastics and team sports
Muscles are growing stronger, and neural pathways that connect the cerebellum to cortex becoming are more myelinated
Reaction Time
The amount of time required to respond to a stimulus.
- Gradually improves (decreases) from early childhood to about 18, but there are individual differences [increases again in adulthood]
Fine Motor Skills
- By age 6 to 7 - children usually tie their shoelaces and hold their pencils as adults do.
*Abilities to fasten buttons, zip zippers, brush their teeth, wash their bodies, coordinate a knife and fork, and use chopsticks all develop during the early school years and improve during childhood.
Gender Differences
Between middle childhood and adolescence, physical activities become increasingly stereotyped by children as being masculine (e.g. football) or feminine (e.g. dance)
*Boys show slightly greater strength (especially in the forearm strength; aiding in swinging a bat or throwing a ball)
- Girls show somewhat greater limb coordination and overall flexibility (valuable in dancing, balancing, and gymnastics)
Exercise and Fitness
- Cardiac and Muscular Fitness developed by: (aerobic exercises) such as running, walking quickly, swimming laps, bicycling, or jumping rope.
- Reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and certain forms of cancer.
Physically active children have better self-image and coping skills
Disorders that affect Learning
Certain disabilities of childhood are most apt to be noticed in middle childhood years
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
(ADHD)
A disorder characterized by excessive inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity
*Typically occurs at the age of 7, impairing children’s ability to function in school, sit still, and get along with others.
- 1% - 5% of school-aged children diagnosed and more common among boys
Hyperactivity
Excessive restlessness and overactivity; a characteristics of ADHD
Causes of ADHD
*Genetic component involving the brain chemical dopamine
1970s view that food coloring and preservatives were linked but proven wrong through research
Researchers suggest a lack of executive control of the brain over motor and more primitive functions
Truth or Fiction
Hyperactivity is caused by chemical food additives.
Fiction
Researchers now generally agree that food coloring and preservatives do not cause ADHD
Stimulants
Drugs that increase the activity of the nervous system
*Ritalin, for example, promotes the activity of the brain chemicals dopamine and noradrenaline, stimulating the “executive center” of the brain to control more primitive areas of the brain. It provides the following effects:
a.) increases children’s attention span
b.) improves their academic performance
Truth of Fiction
Stimulants are often used to treat children who are already hyperactive
Truth
The stimulants help children obtain cortical control over lower brain center (which may fire overactivity)
Dyslexia
A reading disorder characterized by letter reversals, mirror reading, slow reading, and reduced comprehension
*5% - 17.5% of American Children
Learning Disabilities
Disorders characterized by inadequate development of specific academic, language, and speech skills.
Origins of Dyslexia
Genetic Factors:
* 25% - 65% of children who have one dyslexic parent are dyslexic themselves
* 40% of the siblings of children with dyslexia are dyslexic
Neurological Problems or Circulation Problems in the Left Hemisphere:
- Circulation problems would result in oxygen deficiency in the part of the brain called the angular gyrus, which translates visual information (written words) into auditory information (sounds).
Making it difficult for the reader to associate letters with sounds
Phonological Processing
Dyslexic children may not discriminate sounds as accurately as other children do (b’s, d’s, and p’s may be hard to tell apart, creating confusion that impairs the reading ability.