Show Why BOYS Differ from om GIRLS GIRLS in in OME very interesting conclusions are drawn SOME S by Prof B. B T. T Baldwin director of the Iowa Child Welfare Research Station in a recent book on The Physical Growth of Children According to this authority whose statements are quoted in in the Service Bulletin of the University University University sity of Iowa tall children reach their full growth sooner than short shott ones but growth in height is isso isso isso so regular that a childs child's height in subsequent years may be foretold with some accuracy One child may be four or five years older physiologically physiologically physiologically cally than another whose age is is the same in years Country girls mature earlier than city girls Children pick out as as playmates those of the same degree of maturity not those of the same age chronologically Physiological age or degree of maturity should be taken into account in educational work and in labor child-labor legislation legislation legislation legisla legisla- tion instead of actual years Growth in weight i is il more variable than growth in height and depends depends depends de de- de- de more on season and environment The height of children doubles during the first six years after birth and the increases in- in creases four times says Prof Baldwin The greatest increase is during the first year rear in both height and weight The most significant conclusion for Iowa boys and girls lies in the fact that they are above the average of the United States in height They begin soon after birth to lose weight in proportion proportion proportion tion to their height This becomes more evident as the ages increase Here is probably a nutritional nutritional nutritional and health educational problem showing the need for physical examinations medical inspection inspection inspection tion and directed play Rural Iowa children from birth to 6 years ears of age are above urban Iowa children in stature and weight As a arule rule tall boys and tall girls reach their period of maximum adolescent nt stature earlier than do short ones Tall children at any age remain relatively tall under normal conditions Growth in height is comparatively so uniform that one can prophesy sy with a a a. relatively high degree of accuracy how tall n a young child will be at subsequent years The application of a mathematical formulae reveals a great probability that a tall boy or girl at 6 years of age will be a tall boy or girl at 12 years of age a tall boy or girl at 9 or 10 will willbe willbe willbe be tall at 15 or 16 years of age Under the conditions conditions conditions con con- obtaining the height of the boys or girls may be predicted within three or four centimeters for periods of six or eight years Among children who are best developed from froma a physical J point of view there is no fixed age for child who is physically younger though of the same chronological ag age While a child may be De precocious intellectually and have a higher in- in physiological development Physiologically speaking speaking speaking speak speak- ing adolescence does not begin at the same chronological chronological chronological chro chro- age for all normal boys or for all normal normal normal nor nor- mal girls Boys or girls of the sa same ie chronological cal age may differ in physiological age from oneto one oneto to four or five years and still be normal in physical physical cal development Girls from the country and from the smaller cities under population mature earlier than those from Chicago and New York the medium me me- medium ages being respectively 13 years 7 months and 13 years 9 0 months This conclusion substantiates substantiates substantiates the similar conditions found for boys These results are supplemented by ray X-ray photographs on n normal and superior children which furnish additional criteria of physiological age Boys not only grow very differently from girls but their development is decidedly more highly correlated in its varied aspects There is isa Isa isa a biological difference between the growth of boys and girls during these ages from 7 to 17 A few applications of the concept of p t logical age ge to child development may be cited Physiological age has a direct bearing on physical training and directed play Not only do children naturally play with boys and girls of their same physiological age but the types of games in which they participate are dependent upon the stage of physiological maturity Physiological age is directly related to stages of mental maturation The physiologically more mature child has different attitudes different types of emotions different interests than the quotient and pass beyond its chronological chronological chrono chrono- logical age age- in the development of certain mental traits other type traits indicative of mental maturity maturity ma ma- may be undeveloped Another study shows that at each chronological chronological chronological chrono chrono- logical age th tho physiologically a accelerated boys and girls have ha a higher mental age than those of the average or below the average physiological age |