Paper No.

: 06 Human Growth Development and Nutrition

Module : 12 Human Growth curves of different body parts and tissues

Development Team
Prof. Anup Kumar Kapoor
Principal Investigator
Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi

Prof. Anup Kumar kapoor

Paper Coordinator Dr.Department
Meenal Dhall
of Anthropology, University of Delhi
Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi

Dr. Meenal
Dr. Meenal Dhall
Dhall
Content Writer Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi
Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi

Content Reviewer Prof. Satwanti Kapoor

Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi
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Human Growth Development and Nutrition

Anthropology
Human Growth curves of different body parts and tissues
 Description Of Module

Subject Name Anthropology

Paper Name 06 Human Growth Development and Nutrition

Module Name/Title Human Growth curves of different body parts and tissues

Module Id
12

Human Growth Development and Nutrition

Anthropology
Human Growth curves of different body parts and tissues
 Contents:
Introduction
The human growth curve
Growth curves of different tissues and different parts of the body

Learning objectives:
To study concept of human growth
Human growth curves of different tissues

Human Growth Development and Nutrition

Anthropology
Human Growth curves of different body parts and tissues
 HUMAN GROWTH
Growth and development are sometimes used together. But they are not exactly the same. Growth and
development are characterized and defined by the way in which humans change in size, shape and
maturity relative to the passage of time. Growth and development are independent, interrelated
processes e.g. an infant muscle, bones and nervous system must grow to a certain point before, the
infant sit up or walk. Growth generally takes place during the first 20 years of life and development
continues after that. Growth is the physical change and increase in size and it can be measure.
Indicators of growth include height, weight, bone size and dentition. Development is the increase in
the complexity of function and skill progression. It is the capacity and skill of a person to function.
Growth and development are independent and interrelated processes. Maturation is the sequence of
physical changes that are related to genetic influence. It is independent of environment but its timing
can be influence by environmental factor. The rate of person growth and development is highly
individualized however is highly predictable.
Growth is a continuous process that determine by many factors. All human follows the same pattern of
growth and development. The sequence of each stage is predictable, although the time of onset, the
length of stage and the effect of each stage vary with person. Learning can either help or hinder the
maturation process, depending on what is learned. Each developmental stage has its own
characteristics. Growth and development occur in a cephalocaudal i.e starting at the head and moving
to the trunk, the leg and feet. Growth and development become increasingly different. Certain stage of
growth and development are more critical than others. Growth and development occurs in proximal to
the distal direction i.e. from the center of the body outward.
Growth is affected by various factors. The following are the factors which influence human growth and
development:
Heredity and environment: An individual does not grow beyond his inherent potential even in spite
of extremely well enivironmental conditions. Genetics is the most important factor in determining the
growth of an individual. Environmental factors like temperature, humidity, altitude etc greatly
influence the growth of an individual. Man is best adapted to the environment in which he lives and
every part of the body grows to the extent, suitable for the environment. Although the major factor
controlled on growth is the heredity of the individual it may be said that the genetic potential of an
individual is expressed differentially in different environments. It is very difficult to specify
quantitatively the relative importance of heridity and environment in controlling growth under any
given circumstances.
Nutrition: Malnutrition delays growth. It is well known that the individual living under good dietary
conditions shows better growth rate than those from families living under poor dietary conditions.
Children have great recuperative powers, provided the adverse conditions are not carried too far or
continued too long. During a short period of malnutrition the organism shows its growth and waits for

Human Growth Development and Nutrition

Anthropology
Human Growth curves of different body parts and tissues
 better times. When they arrive, groeth takes place unusually fast until the genetically determine growth
curve is reached or approached. The fastest growing tissue suffer most during malnutrition.
Psychological disturbance: The adverse psychological conditions might cause a degree of retardation
in growth. In recent years it has been clearly established that in certain individual under emotional
stress, the growth hormone is inhibited. When taken out of the stressful conditions they began to
secrete growth hormone again and have the usual rapid catch up growth.
Socioeconomic: Individuals from different socio economic levels, different body sized at all ages, the
upper groups always being larger. The cause of these socio economic differences are multiple.
Nutrition is almost certainly one, and with all its habits of regular meals, sleep, exercise and general
organization. Home conditions are more related to the growth differences than are the economic
conditions of the families and home conditions reflect to the considerable degree of the intelligence
and personality of the individual. Smoking may also play a part. Babies whose mothers smoked during
pregnancy, average of some 100 gms and 1 cm small than the others at birth, and the height deficit,
though small is apparently persistent throughout the whole of childhood.
Race: There are racial differences in rate and pattern of growth leading to the differences seen in
individual. These are clearly genetically determined, while others depend perhaps on climatic
differences. Differences in size must be sharply differentiated from differences in shape, for the formal
or relatively easily affected by malnutrition and the latter are not. Europeans who is starved throughout
childhood ends up a small adult, but his skeletal shape is little affected, though he will be lacking in fat
and, if the malnutrition has been severe and prolonged enough lacking also kin muscles. Climate has
little direct effect on the rate of growth.growth in height is on average fastest in spring and growth in
weight is fastest in autumn.

THE HUMAN GROWTH CURVE

Slow early growth occurs from the first emergence, or birth, which is followed by a long phase of rapid
increase in body mass and maturation of organs, especially structural or somatic tissue that support the
individual, up to about the time of puberty or reproductive maturity. Finally grows slows after
reproductive maturation. Growth continues throughout life, so that the oldest individuals in the
population are generally the largest. Growth is defined as an increase in cell production in a normal
tissue or organ during early life and increase in the volume of an organ or tissue due to the enlargement
of its component cells during later life, although increase in volume of the organ or tissue continues
throughout life. The increase in cell production which increases the mass of the cell is known as
hyperplasia and increase in the volume of the cell is known as hypertrophy. The growth curve which is
plotted against age is sigmoid. The pre pubertal growth curve has accelerating phase and the post
pubertal growth curve has decelerating phase. There are two curves of growth: distance curve of
growth and velocity curve of growth.

Distance curve of growth

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Human Growth Development and Nutrition

Anthropology
Human Growth curves of different body parts and tissues
 The distance curve describes the height achieved at any age which is usually known as a height
distance” or “height for age” curve. It is the growth attained at some point of time. And these increased
in height and weight with time can be revealed at some point of time. Here, the height achieved is
described by the term “distance” because it is quite easy to understand, visualize and represent the
increasing height of a child at any particular age and the progression towards the adulthood can be
easily find out. The distance curve of growth is smooth and continous. For instance, in stature the
distance curve of growth does not shows situations of no growth and a sudden increased. So, it is clear
that growth is not a linear process i.e. we do not gain the same amount of height during each calendar
year. The curve of growth has four distinct phases (as per an individual) corresponding to relatively
rapid growth in infancy, steady growth in childhood, rapid growth during adolescence and very slow
growth as the individual approaches to adulthood. Growth represents a most dramatic increased in size.
The pattern of growth that can be seen from this curve is a function of the frequency of data
acquisition. The total distance curve may be represented by several mathematical functions allow
mathematical models to be applied to the pattern of growth. These models are in fact, parametric
functions that contains constant or parameters. Once the appropriate function that fits the raw data has
been found the parameters can be analyzed revealing a good deal about the process of human growth.
For example, the two variables such as age (x) and height (y) being linearly related between, say, 5 and
10 years of age, the mathematical function y=a+bx describes the relationship. The parameter a
represents the point at which the straight line passes through the y-axis and is called intercept, and b
represents the amount that x increases for each unit increase in y and is called the regression
coefficient. The fitting of this function to data from different children and subsequent analysis of the
parameters can provide information about the magnitude of the differences between the children and
lead to further investigation of the cause of the differences. Such “time series analysis is extremely
used within research on human growth because it allows the reduction of a large amount of data to only
a few parameters.

Velocity curve of growth

The pattern created by changing rates of growth is more clearly seen by actually visualizing the rate of
change of size with time, i.e. growth velocity or height velocity. The term height velocity was coined
by Tanner and was based on the writings of Sir D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson. According to him, the
curve of rate of change of height with time shows a succession of varying velocities. From the velocity
curve of growth, two growth spurts can be seen. The first of these growth spurts is called the juvenile
or mid-growth spurt and the second is called the adolescent growth spurt. In fact, there is another
growth spurt that cannot be seen because it occurs before birth. It is the increment in growth in a unit
of time. Measurement of velocity of growth is more fruitful. It helps in early assessment of retarding
factors of growth as well as prediction of ultimate growth.

GROWTH CURVES OF DIFFERENT TISSUES AND DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE BODY

Human Growth Development and Nutrition

Anthropology
Human Growth curves of different body parts and tissues
 Growth of different parts of the body does not follow a uniform pattern. The patterns of growth of
diiferent body parts are described in the form of different curves of growthy. The majority of the
skeletal and muscular growth curves follows the growth curve which is described for height. The
dimension of the internal organs like the liver, the spleen and the kidneys do follow the same. But the
brain and skull, the reproductive organs, the lymphoid tisssue of the tonsils, adenoids, and intestines,
and the subcutaneous fat are some exceptions which do not follow the same curve of growth as the
growth curves of height. The curve of growth followed by body as a whole is known as the general
curve. The brain and skull follows a growth curve which is called as neural curve. The growth curve
followed by the reproductive organs is known as the genital curve and the growth curve followed by
the lymphoid tissues are called lymphoid curve.

Fig 1. Developmental growth curves of different parts and tissues of human body each plotted as a
percentage of the total gain from birth to 20 years of age.

Human Growth Development and Nutrition

Anthropology
Human Growth curves of different body parts and tissues
 General curve
The general curve of growth represents the overall changes in the dimensions of the body. They follow
a curve which is perhaps not very different in principle, though strikingly so in effect. The general
curve includes the growth pattern of most systems of the body, muscle mass, the skeleton (with the
exception of certain parts of the skull and face), the respiratory system, the heart and blood vessels, the
digestive system, and the urinary system. The general growth curve shows two growth spurts: one in
infancy and another during puberty. There are usually four phases of growth pattern of the general
curve which can be seen from the figure 1. They are: (1) rapid growth in infancy and early childhood,
(2) steady but rather constant growth during middle childhood, (3) rapid growth during the adolescent
growth spurt, and (4) slow increase and eventually cessation of growth after adolescence. The latter
part of the curve continues into the third decade of life for most dimensions.

Neural curve (Brain and Head)

The neural curve shows the curve of the brain, nervous system, and associated structures, such as eyes,
upper face, and parts of the skull. They developed earlier than any other part of the body and thus has
a characteristic postnatal growth curve. These rapid growth of the tissues can be seen during the early
phase of postnatal life. So, by the 7 years of age, almost 95% of the total increment in size of the
central nervous system and the associated structures between births and 20 years of age is attained. A
steady gain of the neural tissues can be seen can be seen after the age of 7 years. A small but definite
spurt occurs in head length and breadth, but all or most of this is due to thickening of skull bones and
the scalp together with development of air sinuses. The face follows a curve midway between that of
the top portion of the skull and the remainder of the skeleton. It is nearer its mature dimensions at
birth-later than is body-length, but has still a considerable adolescent spurt, which is greatest in the
mandible. Thus the head as a whole is more advanced than the remainder of the body, and the upper
part of it, that is, the eyes and the brain, are more advanced than the lower portion, that is, the face and
the jaw. From figure 1, it is seen that the curve has an inclination till the age of 10 years and tends to
stabilized afterwards.

Genital/reproductive curve
The growth pattern of the primary and secondary sex organs are characterized by the genital curve
which is also called as reproductive curve. The ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, and vagina in females
and the testes, seminal vesicle, prostrate, and penis in male are the primary sex characteristics. And the
breasts in females, pubic and auxiliary hair in both sexes, and facial hair and growth of the larynx in
males are the secondary sex organs. The growth of the larynx is also related to voice changes that
occur during adolescence period of the male. During infancy, there is slight growth in the reproductive
organs which is followed by a latent period during most of childhood stage. The extremely rapid
growth and maturation of the genital tissues are experienced during the adolescent growth spurt. So in
figure 1, it is seen that the curve is rapidly inclined during the age of 14-16 years.

Human Growth Development and Nutrition

Anthropology
Human Growth curves of different body parts and tissues
 Lymphoid curve
The growth pattern of the lymph glands, thymus gland, tonsils, appendix, and the lymphoid patches of
tissue in the intestine are described by the lymphoid curves. The lymphoid tissue of the body is
prominent at the time of birth, and it grows rapidly during childhood. These tissues are involved with
the development of the child’s immunological capacities and the resistance to the infectious diseases.
During this ages, the lymphoid tissues are twice as they have in the adults. There is a decline in the
curve of the lymphatic system during the second decade of life which is due to the involution of the
thymus and tonsils at this time.

The subcutaneous fat layer also has a curve of its own, and is a complicated one. It can be measured by
specially designed caliper applied to a fold of fat pinched up from the underlying muscle. At about 34
weeks, the subcutaneous fat layer started to grow in the foetus and increases from then until birth, and
from birth until about nine months (in the average child, its peak may be reached as early as 6 months
in some and as late as a year or 15 months in others). From 9 months, when the velocity is thus zero,
the subcutaneous fat decreases, that is, has a negative velocity, until age 6 years, when it begins to
increase once again.
Calculations from measurements of fat on X-rays show that the cross-sectional decrease is less in girls
than boys, so that after age 1 year girls come to have more fat than boys. The increase from age 7 years
or so occurs in both the sexes, in measurements of both limb and body fat. At adolescence, however
the limb fat in boys decreases and is not gained back until the age of about 20 years. In boys, trunk-fat
a much smaller loss, if any at all, occurs; there is only a temporary halt to the gradual increase. In girls
there is a slight halting of the limb-fat increase, but no loss; and the trunk fat shows nothing but a
steady rise until the age of discretion is reached.
Because body weight represents a mixture of these various tissues its curve of growth is often less
informative than those of its component parts. In general, however, individual velocity curves of
weight follow a similar course to the height curve. Though to some extent useful in following the
health of a child, weight has the severe limitations that an increase may signify growth in bone and
muscle, or merely an increase in fat. Similarly failure to gain weight in the older child may signify little
except a better attention to diet and exercise, whereas failure to aim height or muscle would call for
immediate investigation.

Richar Scammon’s curve of systematic growth indicates that the nature of postnatal growth is
differential which means the nature of general curve, neural curve, genital curve and lymphoid curve
are not symmetrical.The rate of growth occurs in differents areas and tissues of the body are different
with respect to time. Although somewhat simplified and diagrammatic, the four curves give a sense of
order to the structural and functional changes that occur with the growth and maturation, however, with
several exceptions. The craniofacial skeleton is one such exception. The upper part of the face, the
orbits of the eyes, and the cranial vault follow the neural curve and complete a good portion of their
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Human Growth Development and Nutrition

Anthropology
Human Growth curves of different body parts and tissues
 growth when the child is about 7 years of age. The lower face, including the jaw, follows the general
curve and has an adolescent growth spurt. Thus, the upper part of the face has a different growth
pattern than the lower part.
The pattern of growth which was illustrated in the fig. 1 was demonstrated by De Montbellard’s son
and is only one of the several patterns of growth that are found within the body. It is believed that they
are sufficient enough to demonstrate that lymphoid, neural and reproductive tissue have very different
patterns of growth from the general growth curve that was initially observed. Neural tissue exhibits
strong early growth and is almost complete by 8 years of age, whereas reproductive tissue does not
really start to increase in size until the 13 or 14 years of age. The lymphatic system, which acts as a
circulatory fluid demonstrates a remarkable increase in size until the early adolescent years and then
declines, perhaps as a result of the activities of sex hormones during puberty.

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Human Growth Development and Nutrition

Anthropology
Human Growth curves of different body parts and tissues