Influences of heredity, culture, nutrition, and parental affection on child development

¶ … physical, socio-emotional and cognitive development of a child. Give equal consideration to the following factors in your response: Heredity, Culture, Nutrition and Parental Affection.

There is no one factor that conclusively determines the process of child development. Psychologists have long been torn to deciding whether nature or nurture has as greater impact, and today we almost unanimously agree that both have as equal and strong an influence on the physical, socio-emotional and cognitive development of a child.

Take hereditary for instance: the fetus is formed by 456 chromosomes. 23 chromosomes from each of his parents. Since each of these chromosomes contain determining DNA that go into determining the child's physical, intellectual, and mental characteristics (some latent and others overt), it is evident that the child is formed by hereditary. This is particularly so when transmitted handicaps and diseases impact him to make her what she is. There is a distinction between genotype and phenotype: the genotype is the kind of genes passed on to the child. The phenotype is the mixture of physical and nonphysical traits that the child inherits (Berger, 2000).

Genetic, or hereditary, influence however depends on two things:

Genetic Interactions:

Some genes are recessive with others more overt. A child, for instance, inheriting both a 'tall' gene from one parent and a 'short' gene from the other, may end up 'splitting' that gene ending up of average height; or the 'tall' or 'short' gen may dominate.

Cultural interactions:

The environment may dominate over gene. So, for instance, a child demonstrating phenotype of 'shyness' may actually become aggressive due to the influences of her surrounding culture. Similarly, a child may inherit a 'tall' gene, but poor nutrition or impact of drugs whilst in utero can determine shortness.

Environmental variables, such as parenting, culture, education and social relationships all determine the way that the genes develop and come into play. In fact, the influence of the environment on child is diverse and extends too many factors: physical, socio-cultural, learning, and emotional as well as pre-natal.

The prenatal environment extends to the chemical balance of the mother's harboring body as well as diseases or other conditions that can impact the fetus. Examples are the mother's use of drugs or alcohol, viral or bacterial diseases, and direct traumatic injury to the fetus.

The physical environment includes the air that the child breathes as well as the nutritional value of her food, exposure to injury or disease, child abuse and so forth.

The socio-cultural aspects consist of the norms, values, belief systems and morals that surround the child in her growing years. These are standards of behavior that regulate the growing life of the child and teach him or her what to become in both overt and covert ways.

The learning environment refers to the degree and type of stimulation that is available in the child's immediate environment. Sensory input and stimulation provides and promotes neural growth 'shaping' brain transmitters and channels. Finally, the emotional environment refers to the nature of the emotional relationship that the growing child receives as well as the degree and quantity of nurturance available to her. Emotional environment affects crucial factors such as those of self-esteem, identity, trust, the ability to enter into intimate relationships, and personal resilience (PA Child Welfare Competency-Based Training and Certification Program).

One of these most crucial influences is nutrition

Nutrition

Nutrition, particularly in the years 0-8, has a determining effect on the developing child in all areas of her life: physical, socio-emotional and cognitive. Poor nutrition can result in problems such as stunting, anemia, or exophthalmia, and effects educability, cognitive reasoning, and reproductive health. It also influences their ability to learn, communicate, think analytically, socialize effectively and adapt to new environments and people. "When there isn't enough food, the body has to make a decision about how to invest the limited foodstuffs available. Survival comes first. Growth comes second. In this nutritional triage, the body seems obliged to rank learning last. Better to be stupid and alive than smart and dead" (Sagan & Druyan).

Cognitive and physical problems are interlinked. For instance, malnourished children evidence retarded brain growth and low birth weight, and more than 50% of child mortality is a direct link to starvation.

Parental Affection

Parental affection is another crucial factor in determining child development. Novella J. Ruffin, a child development specialist at Virginia State University, stresses the importance of parental attitude to child in determining the tenor of child's development. Affection in early years is particularly crucial for determining healthy patterns of infant behavioral and emotional stability and for determining how child will react to the challenges of life.