Factors affecting growth and development – Health of the children has been considered as the vital importance to all societies because children are the basic resource for the future of humankind. Nursing care of children is concerned for both the health of the children and for the illnesses that affect their growth and development. The increasing complexity of medical and nursing science has created a need for special area of child care, i.e. pediatric nursing.
Pediatric nursing is the specialized area of nursing practice concerning the care of children during wellness and illness. It includes preventive, promotive, curative and rehabilitative care of children. It emphasizes on all round development of body, mind and spirit of the growing individual. Thus, pediatric nursing involves in giving assistance, care and support to the growing and developing children to achieve their individual potential for functioning with fullest capacity.
Factors affecting growth and development
| 1. Genetic: |
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| 2. Nutritional: |
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| 3. Socio-economic: |
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| 4. Environmental and seasonal: |
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| 5. Chronic diseases: |
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| 6. Emotional & Cultural: |
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| 7. Intrauterine: |
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| 8. Growth potentials: |
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Importance of Learning Growth and Development
The study of growth and development is essential to the nurse to provide appropriate care to the children. It helps the nurses in the following aspects:
- To learn what to expect from a particular child at a particular age.
- To assess the normal growth and development of children.
- To detect deviations from normal growth and development, ie. physical and psychological abnormalities and to understand the reasons of particular conditions and illnesses.
- To ascertain the needs of the child according to the level of growth and development.
- To plan and provide holistic nursing management to the child based on developmental stages.
- To teach and guide the parents and caregivers to anticipate the problems and to render tender loving care to their children.
- To develop a rapport with the child to enhance the provision of health care and to help to build healthy lifestyle for optimum health for the future.
(Ref by: Parul Datta/4th/108)
Characteristics of Growth and Development:
Growth and development depend upon each other and in normal child they are parallel and proceed concurrently. Though these terms are used interchangeably, but they are not the same. They are used together but not synonymous. The characteristics and principles which regulates growth and development in children are as follows-
- Growth and development is continuous and orderly process with individual difference and is unique to each child.
- It proceeds by stages and its sequence is predictable and same in all children but there may difference in time of achievement.
- There is co-ordination between increase in size and maturation.
- They proceed in cephalocaudal (i.e. from the head down the tail) and proximodistal (i.e. from the center or midline to periphery) direction.
- Initial mass activities and movements are replaced by specific response or actions by the complex process of individualized changes.
- Rate of growth and development is interrelated and rapid in infancy and in puberty but slow in preschool and school age,
- Growth and development depend on combination of many interdependent factors especially by heredity and environment.
(Ref by: Parul Datta/4th/108)
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