Obesity in the United States has become an epidemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2010), one out of every three people in the United States are now overweight or obese. Additionally, one out of every three children between the ages of 10 and 17 are not at a healthy weight (CDC, 2010). America is officially the fattest country in the world, topping Mexico and the United Kingdom by more than six percent of the population (CDC, 2010). These frightening statistics have many consequences for American citizens, especially the youth. This paper will explore the effects of childhood obesity on motor development, as well as ways in which motor development can be influenced to lower the obesity rate in children. It will also include a personal reflection about the topic.
Topic Overview
Motor development is the sequential, continuous age-related process whereby movement behavior changes (Payne & Isaacs, 2008). It can be divided into gross motor development, which specifically considers the development of movements made by larger muscle groups, and fine motor development, which includes more precise movements performed by small muscle groups (Payne & Isaacs, 2008). Additionally, motor development can be broken up into fundamental locomotor skills, including walking, running, and jumping, as well as object control skills such as catching, throwing, kicking, and punting. There are also several theories that surround motor development. For example, the maturational theory suggests the maturation of different body systems, most importantly the central nervous system, is the main force that drives motor development (Payne & Isaacs, 2008). This theory proposes that genetic inheritance is the most importa...
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Gross motor development is the review of the child’s capability to move in a consistent man...
Exercise, food, technology, and money all play a role in causing childhood obesity. Lack of exercise among adolescents has been proven to be the leading cause of childhood obesity. According to a May 2012 Institute of Medicine report, only half of America’s children and one in four teens get enough activity to meet current guidelines (Doheny and Noonman 1). The recommendations call for children to participate in at least 60 minutes of vigorous to moderate physical activity every day (Hendrick 1). “Only four percent of elementary schools, eight percent of middle schools, and two percent of high schools provide daily physical ...
Through the performance of physical activity in children there is a continued positive effect on the motor development and further refinement of actions. During this developmental stage, it ...
Generally, preschoolers mainly engage in physical activity with other children (“Preschoolers at play”). Teachers encourage this by helping children plan roles, encouraging to talk to peers, and posing open ended questions since physical play is significant to the development of children (Rice 2). According to the Child Development Institute, physical play helps a child develop connections between the nerve cells and the brain (Wonderly 1). As these connections develop, a child’s fine and gross motor skills are improved (Wonderly 1). According to the North Carolina Child Care Health and Safety Resource Center, “All children birth to age five as well as school age children should engage in daily physical activity that promotes health-related fitness and movement skills” (Wonderly 2). This is due to the fact that physical activity is significant to children and their development because the process of physical development starts in human infancy and the peak of physical development happens in childhood (Thomas 1). It is a crucial time from infancy to late adolescence for neurological brain development and body coordination (Thomas 1). This is a time where gross and fine
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Over the first 18 months of an infant’s life, motor skills also develop very progressively more. This development can primarily be linked to a process called maturation. Maturation is natural process where the genetically determined biological timetable develops. For example, many milestones, such as crawling, walking, sitting, and standing are recorded during maturation. These progressive actions are depended on by the growth and development of the central nervous system.
Physical activity enhances children’s quantitative development within middle childhood, supporting growth toward healthy strong people, physically and psychology. Middle childhood is documented as being between the ages of six to ten years old. A lack of physical activity affects children across all areas of development; it is not restricted within the domain of physical development. Discussed within are the expectations of motor development within middle childhood, the benefits of physical activity and the consequences of prolonged inactivity. Along with how a student’s physical development facilitates or restricts development in other areas and how the learning environment can accommodate and support the physical needs of students.
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...e maturational perspective explains developmental change through the central nervous system that control or dictate motor development and cannot be controlled by the environment, only affected. Gesell and McGraw’s co-twin study supports the maturational perspective in the sense that environmental factors do not determine ones motor development, only affects it momentarily. Shirley’s study of 28 babies’ motor development suggests our motor development follows a sequential pattern that comes naturally as our central nervous system develops, supporting the maturational perspective as well. An example of motor delay dictating changes in a person’s motor development is apraxia which is caused by damage to the central nervous system, an internal process. The maturational perspective supports the genetic inheritance, nature, as the main influence in motor development.
According to the 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination survey says that, 16 percent of children around the ages of 6-19 years old are at risk of being obese. Obesity has increased in the last twenty years now. Obesity is like other disease, it impairs the normal body functioning. Children who are overweight have excess fat tissue that caus...
A newborn child’s physical and motor development is an evident progression throughout their first years and later in life. A child’s motor development is more of a slower progress, from going to gross motor skills to more fine motor skills in a few months while physical development is an apparent process. The environment affects children in their physical and motor growth, as they learn and adapt to new stimuli everyday as they develop. Separately, these developments start at different times, but function hand in hand as a child grows. Physical development is apparent at conception, early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence; while motor development
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My gross motor skills at this age actually began to improve and I began to develop at a somewhat normal rate. My parents put me in dance class at age four. Dance was something that I really excelled at, and it helped me to develop better muscle coordination so that I was not quite as clumsy as before. This also helped me begin develop later motor skills at a normal