Assignment Code: BANC-109/ASST/TMA/2021-22

Course Code: BANC-109

Assignment Name: Human Growth and Development

Year: 2021-2022

Verification Status: Verified by Professor

Marks - 100 Marks

There are three Sections in the Assignment. You have to answer all the questions in all the three sections.

Assignment –I

Answer the following questions in about 500 words each. 20x2

Q1) Describe postnatal growth in human.

Ans) From the time of birth until adulthood or maturity, postnatal growth occurs. The following age groups are commonly used to divide the postnatal period:

Neonatal Stage

The neonatal stage starts when the baby is born and lasts until he or she is about two weeks old. It is the shortest of all the developmental stages. Things are changing at a breakneck speed at the moment. Many important events can occur at this time, including the formation of feeding routines and the beginning of parent-infant bonding. Infections with the potential to become more serious are becoming more common, and many birth or congenital problems are being noticed for the first time.

Infancy Stage

It's a time when physical systems, psychological development, and neuromuscular organisation are all undergoing rapid changes. During the early stages of childhood, growth is extremely fast or extremely fast. The first year of life accounts for more than half of a child's length and 200 percent of his or her weight. The rate of expansion slows dramatically after this point. Growth during infancy is faster than growth at any other time after birth, according to research.

Childhood

Distance and velocity curves can be used to determine the pattern of growth during childhood. That pattern can be used as a population's benchmark, and the offspring's growth pattern can be predicted based on it. Both inheritance and environment have an impact on physical development. As a result, environmental factors such as nutrition, health, parental socioeconomic status, psychological well-being, and so on can affect a child's hereditary development potential. Depending on the population, the growth trend varies. Early childhood is the time for the eruption of deciduous or milk teeth. All milk teeth emerge at this time. It's also possible to see the beginnings of the permanent dentition. The spherical shape of the body has persisted. In proportion to the trunk, the head continues to dominate, but to a lesser extent. During this period, the plant's width grows faster than its height. During middle childhood, permanent teeth, though not all, erupt, and the rounded forms vanish. The head expands slightly in size. The prepubertal period starts at the start of the late childhood growth stage and lasts until puberty.

Adolescence

The period between puberty and the age of 18 to 20 years is known as adolescence. Adolescent growth speeds up, causing numerous structural changes in almost every part of the body. Sexual maturation takes place during this time. During this time, the prepubertal and pubertal phases can be distinguished. Prepubertal period lasts approximately two years. During this time, the rate of weight gain slows. The lengthening of one's legs heightens one's stature. The thorax becomes narrower, the trunk becomes shorter, and the legs and limbs become longer. During pubertal development, sexual organs mature.

Maturity or Adulthood

Adults are people who have grown to their full height and weight and are ready to assume their full social responsibilities. The halting or cessation of stature growth is considered a sign or signal of maturity. Height stops growing when long bones, such as the tibia and fibula, lose their ability to grow in length. Around the age of 21, males reach adult height, while females reach adult height around the age of 18. Another important indicator of adulthood is reproductive maturity.

Senescence

After the active phase of life, the decline process begins and ends with old age or senescence. After reaching the peak of maturity, senescence begins. Individual differences can be seen in ageing patterns. Because the environment is so important in ageing, it varies from person to person and civilization to civilization. At this time, a number of chemical and cellular changes take place. There are also changes in organisms. The ageing / maturing process appears to have no biological pattern or structure. A multi-causal mechanism is linked to this cycle.

Q2) Describe in brief Heath-Carter method of somatotyping.

Ans) The Heath-Carter somatotyping approach has been widely employed around the world for the past two decades. In sports sciences, anthropology, human biology, child development, and other subjects, it has a wide range of applications. It is based on easy-to-take anthropometric measurements of the participants.

Heath looked into Sheldon's approach's faults and recommended revisions and modifications. In 1967, Heath and Carter created their own somatotyping technique. This approach differs from Sheldon's in that it evaluates the body shape or physique at a certain period rather than Sheldon's constant somatotype. The ratings of three basic components of physique are assigned from the tables or can be calculated directly using Carter, Heath and Carter, and Carter's formulae.

There are three ways to get somatotype in the Health and Carter Method:

1. The anthropometry measurements are used to forecast the somatotype criteria in the anthropometric approach.

2. Standard photographs are utilised to obtain the ratings in the photoscopic approach.

3. Anthropometric and Photoscopic methods are combined to provide a criteria method.

When the majority of people do not have the opportunity to become criterion raters using images, the anthropometric technique has proven to be the most useful for a variety of applications.

The Health-Carter technique defines somatotype as a quantitative representation of the existing shape and composition of the human body. Endomorphy, mesomorphy, and ectomorphy are three physical characteristics that are represented by a three-number somatotype. Endomorphy denotes relative fatness, while mesomorphy denotes relative musculoskeletal robustness and ectomorphy denotes relative linearity. Each somatotype component with a rating of 12 to 212 years is considered low, 3 to 5 is moderate, 512 to 7 is high, and 712 and above is very high. From youth through old age, it is applicable to both genders.

Heath and Carter used both photoscopic and anthropometric approaches to determine somatotype.

The Heath-Carter anthropometric procedure uses the following somatotype components and measurements to determine each component:

1. The first aspect, endomorphy, is defined as the combination of three skinfolds: triceps, subscapular, and suprailiac. It refers to the relative fatness of a person's body.

2. The second feature is mesomorphy, which is defined as relative musculoskeletal growth that has been adjusted for stature. It is the proportion of fat-free mass to height. The biepicondylar breadths of the humerus and femur, flexed-arm circumference corrected for triceps skinfold thickness, and calf circumference corrected for the thickness of the medial calf skinfold are used to compute mesomorphy. The circumferences are corrected by subtracting the skinfold thickness from the circumference. After that, the stature of these four metrics is taken into account.

3. The third component, ectomorphy, refers to the build's relative linearity. It is calculated using the reciprocal ponderal index.

The somatotype can be obtained in three ways:

1. Anthropometry is used to estimate the criterion somatotype in the anthropometric approach.

2. The photoscopic method, which involves assigning ratings to a standardised photograph.

3. The criteria technique is an anthropometric plus photoscopic method that combines anthropometry with ratings from an image.

For a wide range of applications, the anthropometric technique has proven to be the most useful. Height, weight, triceps skin fold, subscapular skinfold, supraspinal skinfold, calf skinfold, humerus biepicondylar diameter, femur biepicondylar diameter, biceps girth, calf girth, humerus biepicondylar diameter, humerus biepicondylar diameter, femur biepicond.

Assignment –II

Answer any two of the following questions in about 250 words each. 10x2

Q3) Write short notes on any two of the following

Q3. i) Impact of obesity

Ans) Obesity has unquestionably detrimental health repercussions. Obesity is associated with an increase in risk factors over time, and all of these dangers develop in lockstep with the rate of obesity.

Metabolic Consequences

In overweight or obese adults, especially those with significant abdominal fat, dyslipidaemias, or abnormalities in plasma lipids, are common. This disease resulted in high triglyceride and cholesterol levels, as well as low HDL and VLDL levels. Even a normal cholesterol level can promote arterial damage and atherosclerosis due to changes in LDL particle size. All of these unfavourable and dangerous changes can be mitigated by losing weight. Insulin resistance, or cellular resistance to the action of insulin, is a side effect of obesity.

Cardiovascular Consequences

Due to its links to high blood pressure, dyslipidemia, and diabetes, obesity may raise one's risk of cardiovascular disease. Obesity, especially in persons under 50, may increase the risk of CHD through a variety of pathways. Varicose veins and peripheral oedema are becoming more common, and other heart-related issues may develop as a result of severe obesity.

Mechanical Consequences

Obesity is associated with osteoarthritis of both weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing joints, such as the hands. Spinal problems in the lower cervical and upper thoracic areas can cause chest pain. Obesity is linked to sleeping patterns that are obstructive or disrupted.

Other concerns associated with obesity include snoring, breathing pauses, and a loss of attention.

Social Consequences

Obese people, especially those who are struggling to lose weight, often experience low self-esteem. Obesity and/or its medical consequences may make it difficult for people to engage in many of their favourite activities. Obesity is seen as a disadvantage by youngsters. In some civilizations, obesity is stigmatised by the general population, and obese people may encounter discrimination in a variety of ways, including job opportunities

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Q3. ii) Methods of studying growth

Ans) The following are two ways for studying growth:

Cross-Sectional Method

The cross-sectional approach is one of the most often used methods for studying human growth. This strategy requires just taking measurements of participants of various ages or age groups once during the course of the study. For example, if a researcher assesses all children in a study at the age of nine, the results will be vastly different from those examined at the age of eight, who will be vastly different from those assessed at the age of seven, and so on. To put it another way, a cross sectional study is a research approach that uses people of varied ages. It is a representation of a given demographic, such as age, sex, or gender. In this type of approach, there is no provision for periodic evaluation. For determining growth distance curves for any location or body type, cross-sectional surveys and assessments are ideal. This study is used to determine and examine a person's growth and development at a given point in time.

Longitudinal Method

A longitudinal strategy entails conducting repeated observations on the same people throughout time at regular intervals. This method/approach to researching human growth requires measuring one or more parameters for each child in the study at predefined intervals throughout the study. Let's look at an example: if children measured at 5 years old are the same as those analysed and evaluated at 4 years old, the outcome will be the same. Two fundamentals of this study that must be studied and evaluated are the continuous sample size and rigorous observations to a defined periodicity at which participants are required to follow up. This research can be done over an extended length of time. In order to reach the fundamental type of velocity standards, participants must be measured twice a year.

Answer any two of the following questions in about 150 words each. 5x2

Q4) Balanced Diet

Ans) A balanced diet consists of foods that provide all of the essential elements in the right proportions for optimum health and illness prevention. Combining the four basic food groups is a simple way to achieve a well-balanced diet. The four primary categories are age, gender, physical activity, and physiological status, and they serve as important aspects, i.e., the amounts of foods necessary by an individual to meet the nutrient requirements for a healthy existence. A balanced diet is one in which carbohydrate (preferably starch) accounts for 60-70 percent of total calories, proteins account for 10-12 percent, and fat sources account for 20-25 percent. Non-nutrients including dietary fibre, antioxidants, and phytochemicals also have health benefits and should be included in a well-balanced diet. Vitamin C, vitamin E, beta carotene, riboflavin, and selenium are antioxidants that are required for the body's healthy growth and maintenance. They aid in the protection of the human body from the damaging effects of free radicals. Furthermore, antioxidant-rich spices such as turmeric, ginger, garlic, cumin, and cloves are good to one's health and well-being.

Q5) Ecosystem

Ans) An ecosystem is the overall integration of entire mosaics of interacting organisms and their surroundings. It's usually an open system with a steady but variable flow of material energy intake and loss. It's a no-boundary basic functional unit made up of biotic and abiotic components interacting with one another, both of which are necessary for life on Earth to survive. As a result, an ecosystem is the highest level of energy-dependent ecological integration, and this functional unit is capable of energy transformations, accumulation, and circulation. Its main ecological function is to emphasise the significance of obligatory links, interdependence, and causal relationships.

Ecological research is undertaken at the ecosystem level, which is known as the bioenergetics approach, which is the most current technique. At the ecosystem level, there are a lot of research units. There are no practical units if nature is seen as a single massive ecosystem, the biosphere. This viewpoint assumes that living creatures and their non-living surroundings are intrinsically linked and interact. As a result, he defined ecosystems as including both the organism-complex and the complete complex of physical factors that comprise the environment.

Assignment –III

Answer the following questions in the about 250 words 10x3=30

Q7) Discuss assessment of chronological age

Ans) Chronological age is the number of years indicated by the earth's revolutions around the sun. The date of birth is used as a starting point for the calculation. In other words, it is the precise number of years a person has lived, expressed in years, months, days, or a combination of these. For example, 16 years, 3 months, and 10 days.

The chronological age estimation method calculates an individual's age by counting the number of years, months, and days from birth. It's typically used to determine someone's age in terms of the day, the month, and the year in which they were born.

Using growth benchmarks and standards, anthropometric measurements are used to determine a child's or adolescent's growth, nutritional health, and overall well-being, as well as their overall development. A growth standard implies that all children can achieve a given level, but a growth reference refers to the dispersion of growth rates in respect to the standard. For many years, the Z-score and percentiles have been used to assess a person's nutritional well-being and development potential.

Z-scores (-2 and +2) and percentiles (5th, 85th, 95th, 97th, and 99th percentiles) are used to distinguish between different health situations. These factors are also used to determine the cut points for anthropometric measurements based on sex and age. According to the World Health Organization, a growth chart, or a growth reference based on Z-scores, is used to examine children's nutritional health and growth, and growth charts are constructed based on the data obtained.

Q8) Describe body adiposity indices

Ans) Some of the most often used Body Adiposity Indices are listed below. BMI is a widely used metric.

Waist Circumference: The minimal circumference of the torso, which is the level of a typical waist, is measured by waist circumference. This core fatness is crucial when assessing deep adipose tissue.

Instrument: Flexible Steel Tape

Method: The guy stands tall, equally distributing his weight on both feet, which are around 25-30 cm apart. While measuring, mark the level of the lowest rib and the iliac crest at the mid axillary line. In a horizontal line halfway between the lowest rib and iliac crest margins, wrap the measuring tape around the waist. The investigator should ideally sit on a stool in front of the subject and measure the circumference in centimetres to the nearest millimetre.

Waist-Hip-Ratio (WHR)

The Waist-Hip Ratio (WHR) is the proportion of the circumference of the waist to the circumference of the hips. It's a common way to figure out how much fat is on your body. To put it another way, it's a useful tool for detecting abdominal obesity, but it's not extremely precise.

Waist-Hip Ratio (WHR) = Waist Circumference (in cm) / Hip Circumference (in cm)

Instrument: Flexible Steel Tape

Waist Circumference: The torso's minimal circumference, which is equivalent to the level of a typical waist as mentioned above, is referred to as waist circumference.

Hip Circumference (HC): The circumference of the hip is measured around the widest part of the buttock’s region with a tape measure.

Method: The person stands up and takes a deep breath. Flexible tape is used to measure the distance around the minimum waist, just above the belly button. The tape is applied horizontally over the buttock’s region in the same way that it is applied to the hip circumference. The circumference is measured at the site to determine the maximum circumference.

Q9) Explain the procedure with precautions on measuring triceps skinfold and subscapular skinfold.

Ans) The following is the process for measuring the triceps skinfold and subscapular skinfold with precautions:

Triceps Skinfold

On the line connecting the lateral projection of the acromion process of the scapula and the interior margin of the olecranon process of the ulna, it is measured halfway between the lateral projection of the scapula and the internal edge of the olecranon process of the ulna.

Procedure:

The individual is encouraged to stand tall and hold his arms in a standard stance. This is the triceps skinfold thickness in the middle of the posterior region of the arm, in line with the olecranon process, at the level of the upper arm circumference or the biceps skinfold. The skinfold over the triceps muscle of the right arm is chosen, one centimetre above and below the required place on the upper arm midway between the acromion process and the superior border of the radius in line with the olecranon process. Maintain the jaws of the callipers at the prescribed level and record the value. The folds should be parallel to the long axis of the arm.

Subscapular Skinfold

It is measured as the fold inferior to the scapula's inferior angle at natural cleavage. At a 45-degree angle to the horizontal plane, the skinfold of the sub scapula is raised.

Procedure:

With his shoulders relaxed and his upper extremity dangling carelessly, the person appears tall and peaceful. Palpate the scapula's vertebral border with your fingertip travelling down laterally until you discover the inferior angle while standing behind the subject. If the person is overweight, they should fold their hands behind their backs to make picking the fold easier. The thickness of the subscapular skinfold is measured beneath the inferior angle of the scapula. With the thumb and index finger, skinfold slightly below the most inferior angle of the right scapula. The skinfold is generally slightly sloped' pointing downward and laterally in the natural cleft of the skin. The jaws of the callipers are set to the specified level, and the reading is taken.