BIOLOGICAL FOUNDATION OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION

BIOLOGICAL FOUNDATION OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Biologically human beings are designed to be active creatures, although changes in civilization have resulted in a decrease for activity needed in accomplishing the basic tasks associate with living the human body has not change, therefore people must their biological base demands and recognize the importance of vigorous physical activity in their lives.

Human development is a lifelong process of physical, behavioral, cognitive, and emotional growth and change. In the early stages of life—from babyhood to childhood, childhood to adolescence, and adolescence to adulthood—enormous changes take place. Throughout the process, each person develops attitudes and values that guide choices, relationships, and understanding.

DEFINITION

GROWTH

According to Watson and Lowery “growth means an increase in the physical size of the whole or any of its parts.”

DEVELOPMENT

According to Hurlock “development as changes in its progressive series which are orderly and coherent and which lead to maturity”

Thus the terms are used together to describe the complex physical, mental, and emotional processes associated with the “growing up” of children.

MEANING OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

            Growth is a biological process. In other words growth means increase in mass. Growth is a quantitative change which is perceptible, concrete and solid. The growth starts from the time of conception takes place in the mother’s womb.

            Development is related with advancement and a progressive sense of qualitative changes towards maturity. It is a qualitative change in the structural, functional and behavioral aspects.

FACTORS AFFECTING PHYSICAL GROWTH & DEVELOP­MENT

There are many factors affecting physical develop­ment of Children. Some importance factors are given below:

(i) Heredity:

Development depends upon the potentials that child gets from his parents. These potentials decide the limit of development of a child, e.g., height, weight, body structure, etc.

(ii) Nutrition:

The nutrition that child gets before birth or after birth affects his development. If the child gets good nutrition he develops well and completes his developmental tasks. His bones, muscles and internal organs also develop well.

(iii) Immunization at proper time saves the child from various diseases:

This helps the child to grow properly. Children who suffer from infectious diseases become weak and their body development lags behind.

(iv) Proper ventilation:

Sunlight and pure air helps in good body development. Sun rays are good source of Vitamin D which makes bones of the child strong.

(v) Endocrine gland:

Hormones help in the development of the child. Secretions of thyroid and parathyroid glands help in the growth and development of bones and body. Hypo secretion of pituitary gland makes the child midget and hyper secretion makes the child abnormally tall. Thyroxin secreted by thyroid gland controls the physiological activities of the body.

(vi) Prenatal period:

Health of the mother, her nutrition, immunization, her mental state affect the baby in the womb as the body of the fetus develops in the womb of the mother. If the mother is healthy and tension free then the development of the baby will be good. Even after birth such babies grow well.

(vii) Family:

Family where the develop­ment of the baby takes place directly affects the development of the child. It provides proper atmosphere, opportunities, encourage­ment to the child to explore his environment so that he develops himself through this exploration.

(viii) Sex difference:

At the time of birth the rate of physical development is more but it is different in boys and girls. In the beginning bones and muscle development is better in girls but till the end of childhood boys also grow and are ahead of girls. Sexually girls mature faster.

(ix) Intelligence:

It has been seen that intelligence affects the physical development. Children who are intelligent grow fast physically and children with low intelligence achieve their developmental tasks at a slow speed.

(x) Socio-economic status:

Socio­economic status of children affects the all round development of the child. Families which can provide all the facilities like good nutrition, clothes, hygienic conditions, healthy recreations, etc. help in maintaining good health of the children so that they can develop good physique. Parents of low income group cannot provide good facilities to their children and the health status of the children are not good as they lag behind in physical develop­ment.

PRINCIPLES OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

The principles of growth and development are described below.

(i) Development follows a pattern:

Development occurs in orderly manner and follows a certain sequence. For example, the human baby can stand before he walks and can draw a circle before he can draw a square. He babbles before he talks, he is dependent on others before he becomes self-dependent.

(ii) Development proceeds from general to specific responses:

It moves from a generalized to localized behavior. The newborn infant moves its whole body at one time instead of moving only one part of it. It makes random kicking with its legs before it can coordinate the leg muscles well enough to crawl or to walk.

(iii) Development is a continuous process:

Development does not occur in spurts. Growth continues from the moments of conception until the individual reaches maturity. It takes place at slow regular pace rather than by ‘leaps and bounds’.

Although development is a continuous process, yet the tempo of growth is not even during infancy and early years, growth moves swiftly. Later on, it slackens.

(iv) Different aspects of growth develop at different rates

Neither all parts of the body grow at the same rate nor do all aspects of mental growth proceed equally. They reach maturity at different times.

(v) Most traits are correlated in development:

Generally, it is seen that the child whose intellectual development is above average is so in health size, sociability and special aptitudes.

(vi) Growth is complex:

All of its aspects are closely interrelated. The child’s mental development is intimately related to his physical growth and its needs.

(vii) Growth is a product of the interaction of the organism and environment:

Among the environmental factors one can mention nutrition, climate the conditions in the home, the type of social organization in which individual moves and lives.

(viii) There are wide individual differences in growth:

Individual differences in growth are caused by differences in heredity and environment.

(ix) Growth is both quantitative and qualitative:

These two aspects are inseparable. The child not only grows in ‘size’; he grows up or matures in structure and function too.

(x) Development is predictable:

It is possible for us to predict at an early age the range within which the mature development of the child is likely to fall. But mental development cannot be predicted with the same degree of accuracy.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

S.No	Growth	Development
1.	Growth is quantitative	Development is quantitative as well as qualitative.
2.	Growth comprises of height, weight, size and shape of body organs like brain, etc.	In this with the physical changes cognitive social and emotional change are also included.
3.	It is due to cell division.	It happens due to motor and adjust mental processes and their interplay.
4.	Growth is for limited period.	Development takes place till death.
5.	Growth can be measured.	It can be observed by matured behavior.
6.	Growth tells about one aspect of personality but in limited scope.	Development deals with all the aspect of personality and has a vast scope.

Anatomical and physiological differences between Males and Females:

S.No	Female	Male
1.	Girls grow faster up to the age of early adolescence and slow down after the age of 14 years	Before he adolescence age, growth in boys is slow and they grow faster after the age of 14 – 16 years.
2.	Girls are smaller in size i.e. height and they attain maturity in early stage.	Boys are generally taller in size i.e. height and maturity comes in the late stage.
3.	Female had broader and shallow pelvis which causes difficulty in running.	Male has narrow pelvis (Hips). They can perform better in running events.
4.	Women have large body for swimming.	Man has shorter trunk and long legs. Their CG is high; this results in unstable position. They are more frequent in shifting exercises and jumping but have disadvantage in balancing events as gymnastics.
5.	Female’s shoulders are weaker in strength and narrow, their bones and cartilages are also weak. They have disadvantage in throwing events, lifting activities and hanging movements in gymnastics.	Male has broader and strong shoulders with strong bones and cartilages. They can perform better throwing events, rope climbing, pole vault and circling activities e.g. roman rings in gymnastics.
6.	Female stops growing in height around the age of 18 – 20 years.	Boys generally continue to grow until the age of about 20 – 23 years.
7.	Women have less muscular strength because of different structure of muscles and thereby comparatively cannot improve muscle power even with weight training and cannot perform better in pushing, pulling, punching and lifting activities.	Men have more muscular power, due to their muscle structure; they have better ability in performing, slapping, putting, pushing, striking, kicking and squeezing.
8.	Women have smaller heart and faster pulse rate resulting in more rapid increase in pulse rate at the beginning of the exercise and recovery is much slow after the exercise.	Man has large heart because of large muscles tissues, circulation is better and the pulse rate is slow.
9.	Women have slower reaction time and movement time.	Man has better reaction time and movement time.
10.	Women are emotionally weak; the effect of defeat, victory, accident and injury on them is for longer time and they cannot recover from the shocks easily.	Men are emotionally stronger; defeat, victory, accident etc. do not have much effect on them. They overcome such shocks easily.
11.	Menstruation in women is a biological activity and has little effect on physical activities. It is more psychological than physiological, hard training should be avoided.	Men do not have such biological activity and can perform any type of activity.
12.	Women breathe more shallowly with the upper part of the chest.	Men tend to breathe deeper and hence more diagragmatically.

Chronological age:

            Chronological age means the age of person recorded in years, months, and days. It being from the day when a child is born and is calculated till one dies. Chronological age is a legal criterion of classifying a Person as a child, adolescent, a major or a minor, his qualification for taking up a job, in getting admission to a school and even in competing in sports events as a junior or a senior player. At the age of 17 years 95% of the growth has already taken place and after the age 17 years, there is little or no effect on the development processes. As the school level, classifying pupils on the basis of Chronological age has been found to be preposterous because of the development effects. Development of each child is not always the same with his advancement in years. Individual rate of growth event he rate of growth of his various organs, differ considerably as a result of which some children are stouter healthier,, stronger of faster at a particular age while others are not. Similarly, some are mentally more mature than others. It is because of this that s[ports scientists advice. The use of chronological age as a singular criterion for classification of pupil. However this will differ from activity to activity.

Anatomical age:

            Anatomical age refers to the growth and development of the skeletal system. The quality of the bone structure or ossification of the bone is a major factor in determining the anatomical age of the person. Through X-Ray, the development in the skeletal system can easily be determined. Nutrition affects the quality of the skeletal development of a child anatomical age is also calculated by dentition, the number of teeth a child has at a particular age. In sports competitions for juniors or sub juniors where is becomes necessary to refer the cases, to a medical practitioner, it is through dentition test that the age of the participant is determined. Consideration of anatomical age is very important because it helps the sports person to find out whether heavy weight exercise should be given to the participants or not. Children with soft or green skeleton must not be burdened with heavy exercise.

Physiological age:

            The age is related to physiological capacities and capacities of the children. Normally it is related to puberty. Secretion of hormones various glands and functional condition of the organs is taken into account while calculating the age of a child. This age may be determined to some extent by the growth of hair in armpit in boys and onset of menstruation in case of girls. Determination of the age helps the sports persons to make work schedules according to the physiological capacities and capabilities of the participants. It has been noticed that some children, though advance in chronological age, are still physiologically immature, this obstructs the planning of physical activity programmers. Activity load cannot be worked out without taking in to account physiological agro d children. Activities which suit the physiological age of the different groups of children should be managed. Children like to play with the children of their physiological age.

Mental age:

            Mental age related to the mental development of the child i.e. mental maturation. Physical maturity is two different things. Many boys who have grown in years or in bodily characteristics are yet childish and immature. Their mental facilities have not developed fully.

The mental age is usually detected through psychological test. Growing up in the body does not necessarily make the child mature mentally. There are late logical test, one can determined the mental age of boys and girls. This will not only helps the teacher, a coach to adjust his methods and techniques of teaching training but also give him an insight into their intelligence, memory, retention etc.,

In accordance with the structure, standard and objectives of an activity, the age groups should be formed. In classifying pupils the principles of homogeneity should be followed. It is harmful to drive all children with the same stick. Children of varying groups allowed competing against each other. Proper matching builds up confidence in learners and they do not face the risk of injury.

Periods of Growth

       The most important phase of the function of the child is growth. Growth is a continuous process and it does not stop abrupt at one stage of development. It must be remembered that children grow at their own pattern. It may also be noted by a period of rapid growth is followed by a period of slow growth.

First period of growth: (up to 6 years)

            In this period the physical growth of the child is rapid during the first 3 years. After which it slows down. The bones are very soft and fully ossified. The ligaments are yielding. The muscles and tendons are supple. Children in this period are easily fatigued and it is not advisable to stimulate them beyond the limits of their own free play situation. The requirements of their normal growth are suitable diet, fresh air, sunlight, free play and adequate rest.

Second period of growth: (6 – 10 years)

            In this period the growth of the child is relatively slow and steady. The spinal column is mobile with weak muscles. And it is liable to be deformed by habitual positions. Hence the children at this stage nee strengthening exercises and not much of exercises. The heart is still small and endurance is low and limited. In order to avoid over fatigue, vigorous competitive contest have to be avoided. They should be given only natural activity like running, climbing and throwing. They can be introduced to various games, so that they will develop basic coordination.

Third period of growth: (13 - 19 years)

            In this period the growth of child is rapid. At this stage girls grow faster and they may be proportionately taller than boys. It may be noted that there is a tendency for boys and girls to associate with the members of their own sex. Hence the programme of activities is to be planned separately for both and girls at this level. Problem of posture and lack of control of bodily movements may be evident. Hence other formal types of activities and exercise involving precision and cooperation between the muscle groups have to be introduced positively. A wide variety of activities including games and sports have to be thrown open to the children of this stage in order to develop skill, agility and coordination. Specialization of any one activity at this stage is not advisable.

Fourth period of growth: (19 – 25 years)

            This is the age group of puberty, the growth is steady and there is an increase in height and with concurrent gains in speed and strength and endurance. Great changes in the body of boys and girls take this place during this period. Boys became relatively broad shouldered in relation to hip width while hip width of the girls increases markedly. There is a change in the voice due to considerable growth of larynx. It may be perceived that the movements of this stage are heavy and clumsy when compared to that of a boy of the previous stage. Further the enormous development of muscles during this stage requires the introduction of practice of activities demanding neuro muscular coordination. As the heart is not able to keep phase with physical development of the body during the earlier years of the period, it should not over taxed by strenuous activities involving violent training. It is therefore advised that the long distance race to be avoided in athletic competitions. Major games, track & field events, gymnastics, folk dances, recreational activities etc have to be positively practiced in this stage.

Fifth period of growth: (above 25 years)

            This is the age of adulthood. The body reaches the optimum growth. All types of strenuous activities may be undertaken. Specialization of activities can be favorably done. Older people should resort to varied types of recreational activities rather than strenuous activities.

Biological basis of Physical activity

Benefits of exercise:

1.      By doing exercise on will get physically fit.

2.      By doing exercise our performance enhance.

3.      By doing exercise we are free from the diseases.

4.      By doing exercise our circulatory system function well, supply blood to all parts of the body.

5.      By doing exercise our digestive system function well.

6.      By doing exercise we can avoid constipation.

7.      By doing exercise improve our basic components (strength, flexibility, co ordination, endurance, speed, etc)

8.      By doing exercise maintain the good physique.

9.      By doing exercise reduce the fat.

10.  By doing exercise improve immunity power.

11.  By doing exercise maintain blood pressure.

12.  By doing exercise we feel relaxed and refreshed.