1. Middle Childhood: Physical Development
CHAPTER 11
Middle Childhood:
Physical Development

2. Learning Outcomes LO1 Describe growth patterns in middle childhood.
LO2 Discuss nutrition and overweight in childhood, focusing on incidence, origins, and treatment of the problem.
LO3 Describe motor development in middle childhood, focusing on sex differences, exercise, and fitness.
LO4 Discuss the symptoms, possible origins, and treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
LO5 Discuss the various kinds of learning disorders and their possible origins.
These are the Learning Outcomes from the text for this chapter.
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3. TRUTH OR FICTION? T-F Children outgrow “baby fat.”
T-F The typical American child is exposed to about 10,000 food commercials each year.
T-F Most American children are physically fit.
T-F Hyperactivity is caused by chemical food additives.
T-F Stimulants are often used to treat children who are already hyperactive.
T-F Some children who are intelligent and provided with enriched home environments cannot learn how to read or do simple math problems.
Truth or Fiction - Pre-Quiz to open class discussion on topics in this chapter. Answers are disbursed throughout slides as encountered.
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4. LO1 Growth Patterns
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5. Growth Patterns The Middle Childhood years: age 7-12
Both boys and girls average about 2 inches in height per year until the adolescent growth spurt.
Both boys and girls average about 5-7 lbs of weight gain in middle childhood years.
In middle childhood, the average child’s body weight doubles.
Overall children become less stocky and grow more slender.

6. Figure 11.1 – Growth Curves for
Height and Weight

7. Growth Patterns Nutrition and Growth
Children in these middle years spend a great deal of energy in physical activity and play.
School children burn more calories than preschoolers.
4-6 year olds: 1, ,800 calories per day
7-10 year olds: 2,000 calories per day
Nutrition is more than calories.
Healthy: fruit, veggies, fish, poultry (no skin), whole grains
Not healthy: fats, sugars, starches
Most school cafeterias: fast food restaurants have food high in sugar, animal fats, and salt
Portion sizes have also become much larger over the past few decades.

8. Growth Patterns Similarities and Difference in Physical Growth
Both boys and girls at this age experience steady gains in height and weight and see an increase in muscle strength.
Boys:
Are slightly heavier and taller than girls from 9-10 yrs
Around age 11 yrs, boys will develop more muscle.
Girls:
At 9-10 will begin their rapid adolescent growth and surpass boys in height and weight until about yrs.
Around age 11, girls will develop more fat.

9. LO2 Overweight in Childhood
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10. Overweight in Children
Between 16-25% of children and teens in U.S. are overweight.
Parents often assume heavy children will outgrown the “baby fat” but most overweight children become overweight adults.
Overweight children are often ridiculed and rejected by peers.
They are less athletic and considered less attractive in adolescent years.
They also are at greater risk for health problems throughout life.
Answer to T-F? # 1 - Children outgrow “baby fat.” - FALSE - Actually, most heavy children become overweight as adults.

11. Figure 11.2 – Overweight Children in America

12. Overweight in Children
Causes of Overweight
Heredity factors:
Some people inherit a tendency to burn extra calories.
Other inherit a tendency to turn extra calories into fat.
Environmental factors:
Family: overweight parents serve as role models and may encourage overeating and unhealthy choices
Children who watch TV burn fewer calories.
American children are exposed to thousands of food commercials per year, most for unhealthy foods.
Answer to T-F? # 2 - The typical American child is exposed to about 10,000 food commercials each year. TRUE - and these commercials contribute to overeating or eating unhealthful foods.
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13. Overweight in Children
Childhood is the optimal time to prevent or reverse obesity and promote a lifetime pattern of healthy habits.
Cognitive methods help by:
Improving nutritional knowledge; reducing calories; introducing exercise; modifying behavior
Behavioral methods involve:
Tracking calories and weight; keeping child from temptations; setting good examples; using reinforcers
The most successful weight loss programs for children combine:
Exercise; decreased caloric intake; behavior modifications; emotional support from parents
Boxed Feature: Helping Overweight Children Manage Their Weight

14. Figure 11.3 – The Traffic Light Diet
This is Figure 11.3 on p. 377 of Childhood & Adolescence: Voyages, 3rd ed.

15. LO3 Motor Development
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16. Motor Development Gross Motor Skills
Throughout middle childhood, muscles grow stronger and neural pathways connecting the cerebellum to the cortex become more myelinated.
Experience refines sensorimotor abilities but there are also individual inborn differences.

17. Motor Development Gross Motor Skills
By age 6 yrs, children are hopping, jumping, climbing.
By age 7 yrs, they are capable of riding a bike.
By age 8-10 yrs, they can participate in sports.
Reaction time: (time it takes to respond to a stimulus) improves
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18. Motor Development Fine Motor Skills Sex Differences Exercise & Fitness
By age 6-7, children can perform many fine motor skills (tying shoelaces, holding pencils like adults)
Sex Differences
Boys show more forearm strength.
Girls show more coordination and flexibility.
Exercise & Fitness
Exercise reduces risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and some types of cancer.
Cardiac and muscular fitness is developed by aerobic exercise, however schools and parents tend to focus more on competitive sports such as baseball and football.
Answer to T-F? # 3 - Most American children are physically fit. FALSE The fact is that most children in the U.S. are not physically fit.
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19. LO4 Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHA)
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20. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Definition-Statistics
ADHD is characterized by excessive inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity.
Not to be confused with normal active behaviors
Typically occurs around age 7 yrs
1-5% of school age children are diagnosed; more commonly in boys, sometimes “over-diagnosed” to encourage more acceptable behavior
Causes
Genetic component: brain chemical dopamine
Lack of executive control of the brain over motor and more primitive functions
Not caused by artificial food additives
Treatment & Outcomes
Stimulants such as Ritalin are most used treatment
They promote activity of dopamine and noradrenaline in the brain that stimulate the “executive center.”
Some children “outgrow” ADHD; others persist with problems into adolescence or adult years.
Answer to T-F? # 4 - Hyperactivity is caused by chemical food additives. FALSE - Over the years, studies in the use of the Feingold diet yielded conflicting results, and researchers now generally agree that food coloring and preservatives do NOT cause ADHD
Answer to T-F? # 5 - Stimulants are often used to treat children who are already hyperactive. TRUE - Although it may seem “counterintuitive,” stimulants increase children’s attention span, improve their academic performance, and reduce tier disruptive behavior.

21. Table 11.1 – Types of Disorders
Symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
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22. LO5 Learning Disorders
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23. Learning Disabilities
Learning Disabilities: disorders characterized by inadequate development of specific academic, language, and speech skills
Learning disabled children may show problems in some of the following areas:
Math, writing, or reading
Speaking or understanding spoken language
Motor coordination
Answer to T-F? # 6 - Some children who are intelligent and provided with enriched home environments cannot lean how to read or do simple math problems. TRUE - they are said to have learning disabilities

24. Learning Disabilities
Performing below the expected level for their age and level of intelligence with no evidence of other handicaps (vision-hearing-retardation-etc) usually leads to a diagnosis of Learning Disability.
Disability may persist through entire life but early remediation can help many to compensate.

25. Table 11.2 – Symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Table 11.2 shows types of learning disabilities
Source: Adapted from American Psychiatric Association (2000).

26. Learning Disabilities, cont.
Origins of Dyslexia
Genetic Factors
25-65% of dyslexic children have one dyslexic parent.
40% of siblings of children with dyslexia are dyslexic.
Left brain hemisphere circulation problems causing oxygen deficiency.
Problems in the angular gyrus of the brain may cause difficulty for readers to associate letters with sounds.
Some research points to similarities in brain abnormalities between schizophrenia and dyslexia.
Phonological Processing
Dyslexic children may not discriminate sounds as accurately as others, creating confusion and impairing reading ability.

27. Figure 11.4 – Writing Sample of Dyslexic Child
© Will and Deni McIntyre/Science Source/Photo Researchers

28. Learning Disabilities, cont.
Educating Children with Disabilities
Special Education:
Programs created to meet the needs of schoolchildren with mild to moderate disabilities including:
Emotional disturbance, mild mental retardation, physical disabilities (i.e., blindness, deafness, paralysis)
Evidence is mixed on whether placing disabled children in separate classes can stigmatize and further segregate them from other children
Mainstreaming:
Placement of disabled children in regular classrooms adapted to meet their needs

29. Learning Disabilities, cont.
Dyslexia
A reading disorder characterized by letter reversals, mirror reading, slow reading, and reduced comprehension.