Chapter 4 - Physical Growth

Patterns of Growth

-Cephalocaudal Pattern

-Proximodistal Pattern

Cephalocaudal Pattern

-Sequence in which fastest growth occurs at the top (head)

-Physical growth in size, weight and feature differentiation gradually works its way down from the top to the bottom

Proximodistal Pattern

Growth sequence starts at the centre of the body, moves towards the extremities

Head Proportion to the Body

During prenatal development and early infancy, head constitutes an extraordinarily large portion of the total body

-Forehead develosp very fast

Structure of Newborn Skull

Consists of 5 major plates: 2 frontal plates, 2 parietal plates (middle), 1 occipital (back)

-Plates divided by soft spot (Fontanelles) to accomodate rapid growth

Plagiocephaly - “Flat head syndrome”

NA Newborn Stats

50.8cm long, 3.2kg (7 pounds)

-Most newborn lose 5-7% of their body weight in the first several day of life

-Newborn double their birthweight by age of 4 months, nearly triple by their first birthday

-Growth slows in the 2nd year; by age 2 children avreage 81.3-88.9cm in height