From the practical point of view, the knowledge of human growth is very important. Those concerned with variations in the physique of adults must know how these physical dimensions are arrived at; the school teacher must know what to expect, physically as well as mentally, from her students as they growup; the doctor and nurse must learn to distinguish normal and abnormal growth and know the effects of diseases on growth.
Change is the law of nature. An individual’s origin is from a fertilized egg which undergoes the process of growth and development and ultimately turns into a full fledged human adult. This cycle of changes is physical, mental, emotional, etc. Growth and development are important natural processes in an individual.
Growth refers to increase in physical dimensions of an individual, e.g., increase in height, weight, etc. or various parts and organs of the body. It implies increase in size or general bodily growth. The increase is limited by hereditary factors, and influenced by environmental factors, such as, ethnicity, climate, diet and many other factors.
Development refers to enhancement in the functioning of the human body. It entails changes in structure, form, or shape. It takes into account the increase in dimensions, change in proportions and adjustment of parts. Development is evaluated by improvement in the performance of the human body. Development is always gradual, progressive and diversified in form according to different periods of growth.
| Very often, the terms ‘growth’ and ‘development’ are used interchangeably and considered to be one and the same. Both communicate to the measurement of changes occurring in individuals. The term development includes the perception and process of growth. But strictly speaking growth refers to increase in size and development includes not only growth in size but also functioning of body processes, growth in intelligence, understanding, personality, etc. |
Growth can be easily observed, measured, but development cannot be measured easily. Growth stops as soon as an individual attains maturity, but development of an individual is a continuous process throughout life. Growth refers to specific characteristic of the body such as growth in height or arm length, but development is concerned with the entire human body. Infact, for practical purposes these two terms are not always differentiated.