Physical Development

1. Physical Development • Growth is rapid • Requires large amounts of food and sleep

2. Physical Development • Brain is fastest growing organ • Neural connections form rapidly • Myelination causes increase in brain mass • Continues through life but slows down • Synaptic pruning removes unused networks

4. Physical Development • Brain develops in sequence with other capacities as they emerge • Highly plastic • Growth spurts occur intermittently from infancy to adolescence (and more recently believed beyond) • Heredity and Environmental stimulation contribute to growth • 75% of adult weight by age 2 • Full adult weight by early adulthood

5. Physical Development • Lateralization • specialization of function within hemispheres • lessens with age • Hemispheric preference • initially indicated by handedness

6. Physical Growth • With age, growth slows and is more consistent. • Children add about 2 to 3 inches in height and about 5 to 7lbs. of weight a year until puberty. • Growth is the basically the same for both sexes. • By age 9 this trend can change as girls enter the adolescent growth spurt

7. Motor Development

8. Motor Development • Gross Motor Development: • control of actions which help a child get around in its environment. • Fine Motor Development: • ability to do things with smaller movements such as reaching or grasping.

9. Dynamic Systems Theory Mastery of motor skills involves: Differentiation Integration Joint product of: Central Nervous System Development Movement capabilities of body Goals of the child Environmental supports Motor Development

10. Motor Development • 4 main areas of growth over time: • Flexibility • Balance • Agility • Force

11. Contemporary Issues: Childhood Obesity • U.S.: 2nd highest rate in world • Causes: • Changes in food type • More sedentary lifestyles • Increased physical, emotional, and social problems • Life long habits formed • 25 -30% of U.S. adults are considered obese • (Okinawa) (McDonald’s)

12. Adolescent Physical Development • Adolescence: transitional period • Puberty: the physical changes allowing sexual reproduction

13. Sexual Development • Primary sex characteristics • Secondary sex characteristics • Menarche • Semenarche

14. Responses to Development • Girls are more critical of their appearance and more likely to be dissatisfied. • Boys are more likely to be pleased

15. Responses to Development • Rate of Maturation • Early maturing males: • Rate higher on measures of adjustment and physical attractiveness • Exhibit more self confidence • Exhibit more success in social situations

16. Responses to Development • Rate of Maturation • Early maturing females: • Often less socially accepted • Often more stress with family • Report more symptoms of depression and anxiety

17. Responses to Development • Anorexia & Bulimia • Anorexia is a disorder marked by a persistent refusal to eat and an irrational fear of being overweight. • Have distorted body image. • As many as 15% of adolescents with anorexia die. • Bulimiaconsists of binge eating and purging by vomiting or with laxatives. • Both often begins during the middle school years. • 3 of 4 college women have disordered eating

18. Young Adulthood (20s) • Physical Prime !!

19. Young Adulthood (30s) • Maximum bone density occurs • Muscles begin to lose elasticity and tone • Muscle strength begins decline • Hearing and eyesight begin to decline • Basal Metabolism Rate begins to decline with increase weight gain • Immune Response declines due to stress

20. Middle Age (40s & 50s) • Height begins to shrink about ½ inch per decade • Muscle strength decreases noticeably (back and legs) • Loss of bone mass begins then accelerates • Take longer to heal • Osteoporosis concern for women

21. Middle Age (40s & 50s) • Arthritis often begins causing joint pain and loss of movement. • Appearance changes may include: • Graying hair • Hair loss • Facial Wrinkles • Sagging bodies

22. Middle Age • Changes in vision and hearing • Presbyopia: lessened ability to focus on near objects • Myopia: nearsightedness • Presbycusis: gradual loss of hearing high pitched sounds • Males tend to experience hearing loss greater and sooner than females • Changes in sensitivity to taste, touch, and smell

23. Middle Age • Climacteric (Loss of ability to bear children) • Menopause • The disruption and eventual end of menstruation • Andropause • Midlife Crisis • No scientific evidence validating this • Points more to a Midlife Review

24. Middle Age • Cardiovascular Disease • Cholesterol increases • Blood pressure increases • Equal problem in men and women

25. Late Adulthood • Brain neurons decrease (5 to 30% from young adulthood) • Vision declines • Night vision • Smaller visual field • Reaction time slows

26. Late Adulthood • Hearing declines • Lung capacity and elasticity declines • Decreased muscle tone and strength

27. Late Adulthood • Chronic disorders become more common • Arthritis - Cardiovascular disease • Osteoporosis - Diabetes • Heart conditions - Asthma • Sinus problems - Cancer • Parkinson’s Disease • Nearly ¾ of all older adults die from heart disease, cancer, or cerebrovascular disease (strokes).

28. Aging • Once body structures reach maximum capacity and efficiency in the teens and twenties, senescence or biological aging begins. • Primary aging: basic, underlying aging process • Secondary aging: product of environmental influences, health habits, or disease, and is neither inevitable nor experienced by all adults.

29. Physical Development and Health • Less active lifestyles rather than biological aging account for most of the age-related decline in athletic skill and motor performance