Growth

Objectives
Explain the following items:
Types of growth data.
Distance and velocity growth curves.
Phases of growth.
Patterns of growth.

Types of growth data

Longitudinal data.
the measurements are taken by the same
person for the entire period of growth.
Cross sectional data.
the measurements are taken by several
children in each age group at the time of
investigation.

Growth curves
Distance curve:
In which, the measurement taken on an
individual at intervals is plotted against the
time, whether they are derived from the
whole body or from one of its parts.

Distance curve

Growth curves
Velocity curve:
In which, the increments of growth are
plotted against time I.e. this curve shows
the variations in the rate of growth against
time.

Velocity curve

Phases of growth
First phase:
In the early embryo, where every thing in
the embryo is a subject to growth and
there is a little differentiation of function.
Second phase:
Lasts until maturity, there is a kind of
balance between growth and
differentiation of function.

Phases of growth
Third phase:
In which, the main aim of the body is
functional activity. The growth becomes in
the form of repairing of wounds and tears.
Fourth phase:
Occurs in old age. The growth becomes
insufficient to keep the body well
balanced. The cells are lost without
replacement.

Patterns of growth
The size of the body or the size of any
system at different ages is plotted as
percentage of its size at the age of 20
years (representing maturity).
This leads to different patterns of growth

Patterns of growth
The skeleton, respiratory, digestive
and execratory system.
they follow very similar curves and thus
the relative sizes remain more or less
constant during growth

Patterns of growth
Lymphoid pattern:
The lymphoid structures (e.g. tonsils,
thymus & lymph nodes) grow rapidly in
young child and reach their maximum size
around the age of puberty, then they begin
to degenerate and by the age of 20 years
they are much less in amount than at the
age of puberty

Patterns of growth
Neural pattern
The central nervous system and the organs of
special sense grow rapidly in the early stages of
childhood where they reach about 90% of their
adult size at the age of 5 - 6 years.
At the age of 12 years they nearly reach the
adult size.
Then the growth becomes much slower than the
rest of the body.

Patterns of growth
Gonadal pattern
The gonads (testis & ovary) and the
external genitalia develop very slowly in
the early stages of childhood.
At puberty, they begin to grow much faster
than the rest of the body

Patterns of growth
Uterine pattern
The uterus and the suprarenal glands are
relatively large at birth then, they loss their
weight rapidly and regain their birth weight
just before puberty.

 Patterns of
growth

 Patterns of
growth

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