Understanding The Physical Development Of A Child
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...Considering the rapid physical development an infant experiences, the physical development of a child in the preschool years is slow and steady.
An infant typically gains about 14 pounds by their first birthday, while an average preschooler gains about six pounds a year until they are six years old. During the preschool years, the weight gain is made up of muscle and fat, as preschoolers actually shed body fat.
A typical preschool boy weighs about 32 pounds... about as much as three bags of groceries... and an average preschool girl weighs a bit less. When considering the general physical development of a child, preschool boys typically outweigh girls by about a pound.
When considering the physical development of a child, their growth slows down considerably in height as well as in weight when comparing the amount of growth they did in infancy.
Preschoolers typically grow two to three inches a year. The average three year old boy is 38 inches tall. When this boy reaches six years old he will likely be 48 inches tall. When considering general physical development, girls are slightly shorter than boys, until they reach about age 11 where they tend to sprout up taller than boys.
The physical development of children in the preschool years allows them to be more mobile than they were in their infancy, because their torso, arms and legs have grown so they are no longer ‘top heavy’. This makes the preschooler’s center of gravity lower and makes it easier for them to maintain their balance.
Body fat decreases in the physical development of a child who reaches preschool age. And by the time a child is five years and a half their body fat is half as thick as it was when they were 9 months old.
Muscle growth slows down gradually during the physical development stage, and picks up again during adolescence. And because of testosterone, boys tend to have more muscle and bone than girls do.
As the physical development of children matures they develop more bone and less cartilage in their skeletal system, and their muscles and ligaments attach more firmly to their bones.
During the preschool years a child is more susceptible than an older child to damaging their bones or muscles, because of overuse or injury, because preschool bones and muscles are still developing.
In order to encourage optimum bone and muscle development it’s important to constantly supervise an active preschooler who is often in continuous motion and willing to take unsafe risks. It’s also important at this age to ensure that preschoolers wear proper fitting shoes and have good posture while those bones and muscles are forming.
The physical development of a preschool child also includes their teeth. A preschooler typically has a full set of baby teeth by the time they are three years old. At this age, children are able to crunch, bite and chew any food.
During the preschool period a child’s jaw becomes longer and their face becomes longer to make room for permanent teeth. Those permanent teeth start showing up by about age seven, when the baby teeth begin falling out.
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