children s health issues
Childhood Development
Introduction
Between the ages of 1 and 13, children's physical, intellectual, and emotional capabilities expand tremendously. Children progress from barely tottering to running, jumping, and playing organized sports. They also progress through learning to read, speak, and do complex tasks. However, the rate of intellectual, emotional, and behavioral development varies considerably from infant to infant and from child to child. Development depends in part on Heredity: Certain patterns may run in families, such as late walking or talking. Nutrition: Proper nutrition is essential to development. Environment: For example, lack of sufficient mental stimulation can slow development, whereas appropriate stimulation can speed development. Physical problems in the child: For example, deafness can slow spoken language development. (See also Definition of Developmental Disorders .) Although a child's development is usually continuous, temporary pauses may occur in the development of a particular function, such as speech. Doctors use established milestones—the age when most children master certain skills such as walking—to determine how a child is developing compared with other children. Various skills can develop at different rates. For example, a child may walk late but speak in sentences early. 