by Jane Allyson

Created on: August 13, 2010

There are many physical factors that can affect a child's development and which can begin at the moment of conception.

One of the factors that will influence the development of the foetus will be to do with age. Teenage mothers can often be too immature to bear the responsibility of a baby will tend to live in an unstable environment with neglected health.  Older mothers have a higher risk factor of bearing a Down's child.

A poor diet can cause malnourishment, leading to prematurity, physical and neural defects and still birth. Disease can range from rubella, mumps, diabetes to STD’s to name but a few, and all can have a negative impact on the unborn child.

Stress and anxiety can cause biochemical changes in the body that communicates the stress that the mother is feeling to the foetus. Worse still, the mother may try to cope with her stress and unhappiness by using alcohol or drugs to dull her perception of reality, which again can cause damage to the foetus.

If this wasn't enough, the baby will then have to go through the process of birth which can end up in a number of ways including a cesarean, forceps or suction delivery, all of which carry their own risks, such as infection and damage to the child. This will culminate with an Apgar scoring system to see how well baby is doing.

Premature babies tend to lag behind because they still need assistance to survive. Most babies have caught up with their peers on terms of physical development by the time that they are 4 years old, whilst some can be slow to achieve physical and cognitive milestones.

Factors that affect physical development:

Genetic and hereditary

A number of studies have shown than physical growth both in body and height is governed by hereditary factors. They suggests that weight can also be observed to follow similar patterns that correlate with growth spurts. Puberty signifies a marked growth spurt with a rapid increase in size and weight. Each experience of puberty will vary in each individual with the total duration lasting about 4 ½ and girls starting theirs at around the age of 11 and boys at 13.

Environmental

Physical growth is dependent on the kind of food that we eat and how much of it that we consume. Nutritional content is very important and without the correct diet, height and size can become impaired leading to low weight or obesity.

Education and family income can also play a part in child development. In wealthier countries the association between wealth

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