person. Social environment means the environment which one sees around oneself on acquiring consciousness in the society, i.e., languages, religions, customs, traditions, means of communication, means of luxury, family, school, social groups, etc. Role of Heredity and Environment on Growth and Development •• Heredity is responsible for all the inborn traits, in stincts, emotions, and physical traits. •• Environment is responsible for the growth and develop ment of the mental and social traits.
•• The two forces heredity and environment are com plementary to each other like seed and soil, ship and wave, etc. So growth and development are regulated by the surrounding environment of a child, or where an individual lives. Gender Gender acts as an important factor in human growth and development. Boys in general are taller, heavier in comparison to the girls but girls demonstrate early physical growth during adolescence than boys.
The body composition and structural growth of girls are different from boys. Nutrition Growth and development of the child depends on food habits and nutrition. The human body requires an adequate supply of calories for its normal growth and this requirement varies with phases of development. Malnutrition has an adverse effect on the structural and functional development of the child.
Exercise Physical exercises have positive impact on growth and development of the children. The functional activities come in the form of exercises of the body. It means growth through use and atrophy (the reverse of growth) through disuse. The growth of muscles from the normal functioning of the child is a matter of common knowledge.
It is a fact that repeated physical activity builds the strength of the muscle. The increase in muscular strength is mainly due to better circulation and good stimulation supply of nutrients and oxygen to the muscles. Play and other physical activities provide for the growth and development of skeletal muscles. Hormones Ho rmones are chemical substances and play an important role in regulating the process of growth and development.
There are many endocrine glands present inside our body. Endocrine glands are ductless glands and are situated in some specific