What Have You Learned?

1. Question 8.1

   About how much does a well-nourished child grow in height and weight from ages 2 to 6?

   Over each year of early childhood, a well-nourished child gains about 4½ pounds and grows about 3 inches. By age 6, the average child in a developed nation weighs between 40 and 50 pounds and is at least 3½ feet tall.

2. Question 8.2

   Why do many parents overfeed their children?

   Many people believe that thin children are not healthy, and thus overfeed their children by encouraging them to eat beyond the point where they feel “full.” Immigrant grandparents, who may have experienced malnutrition in their home country, are particularly prone to overfeeding their grandchildren. Many parents are also unaware that as children get taller, they become thinner, a perfectly normal process since their nutritional needs decrease when growth slows. Normal, healthy children in the 2- to 6-year-old age group are frequently thin.

3. Question 8.3

   Childhood obesity increases the incidence of what adult diseases?

   Being an obese child often leads to becoming an obese adult as well as developing diabetes.

4. Question 8.4

   What specific measures should be part of oral health in early childhood?

   Learning to brush and care for the teeth and gums in childhood helps those skills become routine in later childhood and adulthood. Seeing a dentist on a regular basis should also be a part of overall health care.

5. Question 8.5

   When is it normal for children to be picky about eating and other daily routines?

   The “just right” phase peaks at about age 3 and is normal between 2 and 6 years of age, when children prefer to have things done in a particular order or in a certain way, have a strong preference to wear (or not wear) certain articles of clothing, prepare for bedtime by engaging in a special activity, routine, or ritual, and have strong preferences for certain foods. The “just right” phase wanes by about age 6; if it persists long beyond that, it can be a sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

6. Question 8.6

   How much does the brain grow from ages 2 to 6?

   Between ages 2 and 6, the brain grows from 75 percent to 90 percent of its adult weight, with increases particularly in the areas that enable advanced language and social understanding.

7. Question 8.7

   Why is myelination important for thinking and motor skills?

   Myelination is the process by which myelin is placed on the axons. Myelin is a fatty coating on the axons that speeds signals between neurons. Speed of transmission from one neuron to another becomes pivotal when several thoughts and actions must occur in rapid succession, and when motor skills are rapidly developing. Reaction time improves through myelination, so children become more skilled at throwing and catching, rapidly naming objects, and writing their ABCs.

8. Question 8.8

   What is the function of the corpus callosum?

   The corpus callosum is a long, thick band of nerve fibers that connects the left and right sides of the brain. Growth of the corpus callosum makes communication between hemispheres more efficient, allowing children to coordinate both sides of the brain and body.

9. Question 8.9

   What should parents do if their toddler seems left-handed?

   Parents should do nothing. Trying to change “handedness” may interfere with brain function and lateralization. Left-handedness is an advantage in certain professions.

10. Question 8.10

    How does the prefrontal cortex affect impulsivity and perseveration?

    A balance of activation and inhibition is needed for thoughtful adults, who neither leap too quickly nor hesitate too long. Many young children have not yet found the balance. They are impulsive, flitting from one activity to another. Others persevere, or stick to, one thought or action, engaging in perseveration. Impulsiveness and perseveration are opposite manifestations of a prefrontal cortex that is too immature to check activation or halt inhibition.

11. Question 8.11

    What are the three functions of three areas of the brain that are part of the limbic system?

    The amygdala regulates emotions in general but fear and anxiety in particular. The hippocampus serves as a central processing center of memory, especially locations. The hippocampus stores emotions from the amygdala along with memory for locations, causing some locations to be remembered as scary or fun. Finally, the hypothalamus receives and responds to signals from the amygdala as well as the hippocampus to produce hormones for the rest of the body.

12. Question 8.12

    Is stress beneficial or harmful to young children?

    Stress can seem beneficial if there is someone there to moderate the stress for the child. In a study, children remembered more details about an event when their cortisol levels were elevated. Stress seemed to aid their memory. However, flooding the brain with cortisol may actually destroy parts of the hippocampus. Too much cortisol early in life may lead to permanent deficits in learning and health, with major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity in childhood and adolescence.

13. Question 8.13

    What three factors help children develop their motor skills?

    The development of both gross and fine motor skills depends on brain maturation, motivation, and the opportunity to practice.

14. Question 8.14

    What is known and unknown about the effects on young children of chemicals in food, air, and water?

    Pollutants in the air and water may result in asthma and may affect the developing brain, and thus impede balance, finger dexterity, and motivation. Lead has been proven to cause brain damage and thus has resulted in laws governing acceptable levels in the air, food, clothing, soil, etc.

15. Question 8.15

    How does brain and body maturation affect children’s artistic expression?

    Because they are imaginative, creative, and not yet self-critical, 2- to 6-year-olds love to express themselves. They love to dance, build with blocks, make musical rhythms, and make marks on paper. The corpus callosum, which allows a child to use and access both brain spheres, must be mature for artistic expression. Like other motor skills, artistic expression requires encouragement and practice.

16. Question 8.16

    Why is the term injury control preferred over the term accident prevention?

    Injury control implies that harm can be minimized with appropriate controls. Accident prevention implies that an injury is random and unpredictable; if anyone is at fault, it’s a careless parent or an accident-prone child. This is called the “accident paradigm”—as if “injuries will occur despite our best efforts,” allowing the public to feel blameless.

17. Question 8.17

    What primary measures may prevent childhood injury, abuse, and neglect?

    Primary prevention reduces the likelihood of injury, abuse, or neglect. The installation of bike trails for bike riding creates and supports conditions that reduce a child’s chance of injury. Access to parenting classes for vulnerable parents creates and supports conditions that reduce a child’s chance of abuse or neglect.

18. Question 8.18

    What secondary measures may prevent childhood injury, abuse, and neglect?

    Secondary measures reduce risk in high-risk situations. Examples include crosswalks and flashing lights on stopped school buses, which decrease the risk of injury. Preschool teachers and doctors who look for warning signs of abuse or neglect and report it for further investigation reduce the risk of harm for vulnerable children.

19. Question 8.19

    What tertiary measures may prevent further childhood injury, abuse, and neglect?

    Tertiary measures reduce damage after injuries. These include such things as laws against hit-and-run drivers and providing immediate medical attention following an injury. Providing help to parents to provide better care or removing a child from an abusive and/or neglectful home will help to limit the damage following maltreatment.

20. Question 8.20

    Why did few people recognize childhood maltreatment 50 years ago?

    Prior to the late 1970s there was no research on the topic. It was a common belief that child maltreatment was a rare, sudden attack, perpetrated by a disturbed stranger. Today, we know that maltreatment is neither rare nor sudden, and 80 percent of the perpetrators are one or both of the child’s parents.

21. Question 8.21

    Why is neglect in childhood considered more harmful than abuse in the long term?

    Neglected children may have greater social deficits than abused ones because they were unable to relate to their parents. They may also suffer the long-term effects of neglected nutritional and physical needs.

22. Question 8.22

    Why is it difficult to know exactly how often childhood maltreatment occurs?

    U.S. laws now require teachers and other professionals to report suspected maltreatment. Thus, reports have increased because of those laws. Yet not all cases are noticed, reported, or substantiated. There is a 3:1 ratio of reported to substantiated cases because each child is substantiated only once (even though there may be multiple reports), substantiation requires proof, signs of maltreatment reported by mandatory reporters may turn out to have benign explanations, and a report may be deliberately misleading (rarely).

23. Question 8.23

    What are the common signs that indicate a child may be maltreated?

    Signs of possible maltreatment include delayed development (such as slow growth, immature communication, lack of curiosity, or unusual social interactions), excessive fearfulness, a heightened startle response, defensiveness, and confusion about the difference between fantasy and reality.

24. Question 8.24

    What are the long-term consequences of childhood maltreatment?

    Maltreated children may become bullies, victims, or both, not only in childhood and adolescence but also in adulthood. They tend to dissociate, that is, to disconnect their memories from their understanding of themselves. Adults who were severely maltreated (physically, sexually, or emotionally) often abuse drugs or alcohol, enter unsupportive relationships, become victims or aggressors, sabotage their own careers, eat too much or too little, and engage in other self-destructive behavior.

25. Question 8.25

    Why would a child be placed in foster care?

    In foster care, children are legally taken from their parents and entrusted to another adult or family. Often children removed from an abusive or neglectful home are placed in foster care as a tertiary form of prevention. Children may also enter the foster care system if they are orphaned or their family is homeless. Parents may also enter their children into foster care if they admit that they cannot take care of them or handle their needs.