Child development is about how a child grows and changes. Development continues across the lifespan of individuals. Development is commonly understood as gaining progress. But in child development, it refers to continuous change – either progress and improvements, complex patterns of change, regression/decline, or static growth. For example, a child’s development curve from birth could move upwards, but illness or trauma could turn the development curve downwards or it could remain at a plateau. The right kind of intervention could turn the curve upwards again.

Development talks about milestones – important skills or age-specific tasks that a child is expected to achieve as she grows. Milestones help us track the child’s progress. Delayed milestones could indicate undetected problems. Early diagnosis and intervention are critical and could arrest certain problems or help plan the management of the problem, or in more severe cases, rehabilitation.

Child development can be classified according to phases of development – 

Before birth – prenatal and neonatal

Infancy – 0-2 years

Childhood – Early childhood, middle childhood and Late Childhood

Adolescence – Early adolescence, Middle adolescence, and Late adolescence

The elements of child development are Physical, Social-emotional, and Cognitive. Development is not always easy to observe because certain changes such as in cognition (thinking skills) are often not obvious.

There are many theories of child development that arise out of the interactions between nature(inherited features), and nurture(the environment) – the psychological, biological and social elements.

Certain Protective factors and Risk factors impact child development.

Protective factors include:

• a safe and healthy external environment
• nutritious food
• a warm and loving family atmosphere
• strong positive attachments between parents and children

Risk factors include:

• hereditary conditions for which parents can seek help to break the cycle of inheritance. For example, a diabetic parent could take the necessary lifestyle precautions to mitigate the chances of the child becoming a diabetic.
• Or a history of mental illness (for example – schizophrenia, severe depression) in the family. Parents can work with a mental health specialist who could advise on precautionary measures they can take to minimize the risk of illness in the child.

Scientific research is very robust in the field of child development so new information and understanding is evolving, even as our children are growing and developing.

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