Pre-schoolers: growth, development, nutritional and cognitive development

Introduction

• The rapid growth during infancy is followed bya generally slow growth between one to sixyears.

• The child becomes more active and the socialand environmental influences have a greatimpact on his food behavior and eatingpattern.

• Development of full dentition by the end oftwo years increases the range of foods thatcan safely be eaten.

DEFINITIONS

Growth:The change in weight, height, and circumference of head.

Child Development:The process of change in which a child comes to master

more and more complex levels of physical activity, thinking,feeling, communicating and interactions with people and objects.This is sometimes expressed as physical, cognitive, emotional andsocial development.

Early childhood:The period between birth and eight years of age.

Pre-school period

Pre-school period

• The need for nutrients is increased as growthand development continues.

• Although growth is relatively slower inchildhood than in infancy, it is extremelyimportant that the diet provides appropriateamount of nutrients.

• Children who double their birth weight in thefirst year requires the whole preschool periodto double it again

Growth and development

• Growth is an increase in size of the bodyor any part of the body.

• It includes an increase in cell numberand cell size.

• Development entails the maturation ofbody tissues, organs and metabolicsystem so that the intended functionscan be performed.

• During the second year, the increase in heightis about 10cm and weight gain is 2 to 2.5 kg.

• The preschool child grows relatively more inheight and becomes taller and thinner.

• His arms and legs become longer inproportion to his trunk, his short infant neckbecomes longer.

Height and weight

• The head at birth accounted for about 1/4th ofhis total length grows more slowly and thusconstitutes a smaller fraction of his totalheight.

• After two years annual gain in height andweight is only six to seven cm and 1.5 to 2 kgrespectively.

Body proportion

• As growth proceeds, changes occur inproportion of water, muscle tissue, fatdeposits and skeletal structure.

• The body water gradually decreases andthere is addition of adipose tissue and that ofminerals to the bones.

• The chubby appearance of the baby begins todisappear by 4 years of age.

• The head growth is slow, limb growth is rapidand trunk growth is intermediate.

Bone development

• It consists of growth of

–bone size

–change in the number of bones

–change in their composition

Development of teeth

• Most of the primary teeth haveerupted by his third birthday.

• These teeth will remain in the gumsuntil about six or seven.

Development of nervous system

• The growth of the nervoussystem is very rapid before birthand in the first three or fouryears after birth.

Brain growth

• This is rapid during pre-school years.

• The brain is about 75% of its adultweight at 5 years and it is 90% ofadult weight at 8 years.

Growth of muscles

• The muscles play a major role inregulating the vital organs of thebody, such as heart, digestivesystem and the glands up to 5 yearsof age, the muscle grow inproportion to increase in bodyweight.

Psychosocial changes

• Psychosocial changes also take place.

• As he steps into the second year hedevelops a sense of individuality whichis distinct and is reflected in his foodbehavior.

• With advancing age there is anincreasing sense of independence,initiative, imagination and curiosity.

Psychosocial changes

• Preschool age is also a period of imitationand sex identification, with boys imitatingtheir fathers and girls their mothers.

• Such behavior is reflected at meal times andtherefore the parents play an important rolein inculcating healthy and positive attitudetowards food.

Developing good eating habits

• Encourage children to experiment• Plan snack and meal times• Allow plenty of time• Develop social skills• Provide good role models

Need for developing good food habits

• The preschool years are ones thatcreate a number of concerns aboutfood intake.

• Nearly two out of three preschoolchildren in India are malnourished.

Factors in planning a diet

• The diet should be adequate in quantity and qualityof different nutrients.

• In addition to the amount of milk recommended,the pre school child should have two servings ofprotein rich foods.

• When the child is about 18 months old, finger foodssuch as carrots can be given

• Proper elimination is usually maintained by a dailydiet of fruits, vegetables and whole grain products.

Factors in planning a diet

• The diet should include a variety of foods.

• The child who is taught to eat everything on his plate ismuch more likely to enjoy optimal health than is theone who picks and chooses.

• The child should have access to items from all foodgroups on a regular basis.

• Their food intake will improve if the food is interestingand attractive e.g., chapathis, puris can be made intoshapes or can be served in attractive plates.

• Flavor or colour of the milk can be changed toencourage the child to drink more milk.

Factors in planning a diet

• Children are sensitive to flavors, any change inflavor of daily food may lead to its rejection.

• Food preferences of the child should be taken intoconsideration.

• Regularity of meal time is essential.

• Different cooking methods and new attractivecombination encourage the child to eat more.

Factors in planning a diet

• The child should never be hurried while taking thefood.

• The atmosphere should be pleasant, peaceful andlacking distraction.

• Foods like tea , coffee should be restricted as theyover stimulate the system.

• Unripe bananas and apples should not be given asthey are difficult to chew and may get choked.

Drinks

• Plenty to drink to help their bodies to function properly,keep cool and prevent constipation.• Plain water- quenches thirst, replenishes body fluid,does not spoil the appetite and is not harmful to teeth.• 1 - 5 years of age - whole cows milk• Fresh fruit - vitamin C and is best given with breakfastor a main meal to help with the absorption of iron.• Fizzy, carbonated drinks - harmful to teeth due to theirhigh acid content.• Tea and coffee - not recommended for children under 5.

Children with special needs or therapeutic diets

• Some children will need the food - modified in a particular way to make it easier to eat. e.g. special needs and therapeutic diets, including those for allergies. • Therapeutic diets for food allergies are not uncommon in pre-school children. • Foods commonly associated with allergies are milk, wheat, peanuts, fish, soya, eggs, shellfish, citrus fruits, seeds and nuts. • A wide range of symptoms can occur when a child is exposed to an allergen in food, ranging from a mild reaction to a very rapid and severe response.

Cognitive processes

• Involve changes in the child’s thinking, intelligence, and language.• Cognitive developmental processes enable a growing child to memorize a poem, imaginehow to solve a math problem, come up with a creative strategy, or string together meaningfully and connecting sentences.

COGNITION THEORIES

PIAGET’S THEORY

CASE’S NEO-PIAGETIAN

THEORY

VYGOTSKY’S THEORY

Preoperational Thinking

• Piaget’s stage of cognitive development from the ages 2-7

• Piaget refers to this as the time before children begin to be able to make truly logical connections in their thinking

• Children are reasoning from particular to particular rather than understanding how particular cases relate to the whole set of possible cases

Centration

• Tendency of preoperational thinkers to focus attention on one aspect if any situation, while ignoring others

• Concepts are limited by one outstanding appearance or perception, to the exclusion of true understanding based on being able to consider the total picture

Egocentrism

• Inability to imagine the perspectives of others and reflect on their own thinking

• Leads to illogical features of thought

• Animistic thinking- belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities

• Magical thinking

• Rigid thinking and illogical nature of young children’s thinking

Concreteness

• Preschoolers understand objects, situations, and happenings they have experienced much better than something they have only heard about

• They also frequently literally interpret words, and miss the humor of some jokes

Effects of Concreteness

• Much of academic learning deals with ABSTRACTION, and most children under the age of 7 deal with the world in concrete terms, and prior life experiences

• If a child has not had enough first hand experiences, then he really has a tough time in school when everything is abstract, with few hands-on learning opportunities

Conceptual Words

• Because of the preschooler’s desire to please us, often children will memorize things, and we will think that they have the concept, when they only have the facts memorized. Counting and spelling their name are 2 examples where they may know the facts, but have no understanding of the concept

Assimilation

• Taking in of new information

Adaptation

• When the child has made the knowledge his own. Piaget says that “children create knowledge, we cannot pour it into them”.

Accommodation

• Process here the child takes in the new information and then puts it with something they already know and reach a conclusion based upon it

• As they manipulate, experience, do interact, observe, play, and solve problem, they organize the information, and then move to a clear understanding of the concept

Cognitive Resolution

• Assimilation + Accommodation = Adaptation