1 Growth
Watch the animation which looks at growth rates through years 0–5. These are representative of growth rates in the UK.
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Transcript: Video 1
SPEAKER:
Look at these young children. They are similar ages. They are very different thanks to genetics, what they eat, where they live, a whole range of factors. The growth time span is unique for every individual, although it usually stops between 18 to 25 years, and can be measured very accurately, either by parents or carers often on the back of a door.
These two children are called Todd and Amy. Here's their average growth between the ages of one and five years. Todd is one year old. When measured against a door, you can see that he is 75.7 centimetres. On average, girls are slightly shorter than boys at all ages up to adolescence. Until puberty starts, there isn't much difference in growth rate between boys and girls. It's about 5 centimetres per year.
Now, let's look at Amy. At 1 year of age, she is 74.1 centimetres. At 3 years old, Todd is ready for nursery and stands at 95.2 centimetres. In 2 years, his height has increased by 19.5 centimetres. At 3 years old, Amy stands at 94 centimeters. In 2 years, her height has increased by 19.9 centimetres.
At 5 years old, Todd is at school age and his height is now 109.2 centimetres. In 2 years, his height has increased by 14 centimetres. At 5 years old, Amy's height is 107.9 centimetres. Her height has increased by 13.9 centimetres. Let's take a final look at Todd and Amy from 1 to 5 years old to see how much they've grown and the differences in height.
Todd and Amy show you the average growth rates of children between 1 and 5 years of age. But growth happens in a uniquely individual time span. And there will always be differences in the height and size of young children caused by a range of factors like their genetic makeup, diet, and environment.
Video 1
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Growth involves changes to the physical aspects of the body – its size, shape, form and structure.
Children become taller and heavier as their bones, muscles and body systems develop. Growth happens within a uniquely individual time span as you will see in any group of children of similar age. Usually, it has stopped completely by age 25 and can be measured very accurately throughout childhood – many homes have a particular wall or door on which the height of resident children is recorded over years.
Two points are worth remembering:
- Growth happens from top to bottom – the scientific term is Cephalocaudal – which means that growth starts at the head and then spreads down to the toes. This explains why humans compared to many other mammals take much longer to walk fluently!
- Growth also works from the core (around the tummy area) out to the fingers and toes – this is called Proximodistal – and means that the core of the body must be strong and stable long before fiddly movements like writing and drawing are achieved.