T
he children you work
with are probably ill or
disabled, right? So why
do you need to
know how the
average healthy
child grows and
develops?
I
t’s simple.
Learning
about healthy
kids gives you
the basic
information you
need for working with sick
kids. The more you know
about how a healthy child
grows and
develops, the
more you’ll be
able to notice
when things
aren’t right with
your young
patients. For
example, let’s
say you care for a
five year old boy.
Unless you know
that the average five year old
boy weighs 41 pounds, you
won’t know if your patient’s
weight is above or below
normal.
N
o matter what illnesses
or disabilities your
pediatric patients may
have, you will be a better
caregiver if you learn some
basic child growth and
development.
Interesting Facts About Children
Why Should You Learn About
Child Growth & Development?
be prevented.
· Sudden Infant Death
Syndrome is the leading
cause of death for infants.
· About 80% of all parents
report that their children
under age 18 are in very
good or excellent health.
· The most common chronic
health problem for children
is asthma. For every 1000
children, 69 of them will
have asthma.
· For every 1000 children, 18
have problems with their
hearing.
· At least 13 million children
under the age of six are in
child care.
· Nearly half of all infants are
in child care.
· Almost 1/5 of all 13 year olds
say they watch at least six
hours of TV every day.
· Experts guess that there are
4.5 million children between
the ages of 12 and 17 who
smoke cigarettes.
· More children die from
injuries than any other
cause.
Facts are from the CDC and the U.S.
Department of Health and Human
Services.
· There are about 70 million
children under age 18 in the
United States. Over half of
them are teenagers.
· By the year 2020, there will
be about 78 million children
in the U.S.
· More than 8,000 babies die
every year from birth
defects.
· Every year, 40,000 babies are
born with disabilities. Many
of these birth defects could
IN THE KNOW
PAGE 2
