Family Contexts in Middle Childhood Physical Development
Source: Pearson Allyn Bacon Prentice Hall
Topics: Middle Years (5-9), Physical Growth (Ages 5-8), Physical Growth and Puberty (Ages 8-10), Child General Health, Parenting and Families
Children’s physical growth may be affected by the genetic history of their parents as well as by how well families provide proper nutrition, medical care, and safe and stable homes for their children. Homeless children, for example, have been found to suffer from high levels of stress that ultimately affect their health and school performance (Parrish, 2004). Similarly, exposing children to violence in the home may affect neurological development by modifying children’s arousal levels and ability to react appropriately to stress, elevating levels of neurotransmitters and hormones that affect growth and the timing of puberty, especially in girls, and negatively impacting cognitive development and academic achievement (El-Sheikh, Harger, & Whitson, 2001; Margolin & Gordis, 2000).
Children’s motor coordination and skill level are affected by the opportunities provided by parents. More specifically, parents influence children’s activity choices, such as sports participation, by providing (or not) the means to experience these activities. These might include participating in the activity with the child, buying athletic equipment, and providing or arranging children’s transportation to and from the athletic event (Fredricks et al., 2005). Also, children who are White, from the Northeast and Midwest, from intact families, and whose parents have higher educational levels were more likely to participate in organized sports. Children who come from families with an older brother also participate in sports more, presumably because they are influenced by the participation of their older siblings (Hofferth & Sandberg, 2001; Videon, 2002).
Because parents are responsible for monitoring the amount of time children spend watching television, they can reduce the time spent on this activity and encourage children to engage in more cognitively stimulating activities such as reading. An enriched environment is necessary for optimal brain development. Parents greatly influence the types of physical, intellectual, and motoric experiences children have in middle childhood that ultimately affect development.
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© 2009, Allyn & Bacon, an imprint of Pearson Education Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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