Week 4 Discussion- Kima Ghavalyan
PSYC 290 LIFE SPAN
Discussion 1
In the video clip Lila: Eight to Thirteen, Diane Brown presents is the developmental life of a teenager, Lila, who is progressing from childhood to adolescence. From the onset of the video clip, Lila looks outgoing since she has to navigate through the forests, climb trees, and play games. Lila is very social, and she gets along with other children at the party. Lila seems to be an extrovert by how she interacts with people, and she is always on the frontline responding to questions. Interacting with others and being fluent in one of the developmental miles that Lila has achieved. Lila seems jovial and happy with her male friends, Amalie, Frankie, and Jordan. One of the key developmental milestones that Lila has achieved is being outstanding in responding to questions. She is open to being the first to respond to prompts, and she does not mind whether she is correct or wrong. Social interaction and language development are among the aspects that show that a child is developing (Santrock, 2017).
Another developmental milestone that Lila achieves is attending school when she is ten years. In school, she learns how to describe people, and she is able to describe her mother. Self- cognition is a great advancement to Lila. Lila begins to experience adolescence at the early stages because, at the age of ten, she already has a boyfriend. Another developmental milestone happens at the age of eleven years when Lila experiences her menstruation period, and this is proof that she is really transforming from childhood to adolescence (Brown, 2004). Lila is beginning to realize herself as a girl. At Wagner school, Lila is aware of her cognitive behavior, and she states that she only had to change what she did and how she acted. In addition, Lila also experiences physical growth transitioning from a small kid to a pre-adolescent. From Lila’s experiences, I can say that she has successfully navigated her way to adolescence.
How can parents talk about sex to their children in the early years?
References
Brown, D. (Director). (2004). Lila: Eight to Thirteen [Film]. Filmakers Library.
Santrock, J. W. (2017). Life-span development. New York: McGraw-Hill.
DISCUSSION 2
Obesity is one of the main health issues affecting many children in the United States, and this is endangering the future of the nation. The rate of childhood obesity in the year 2019 was 13.9 percent for children aged 2 to 5 years, 18.4 percent for children aged 6 to 11 years, and Hispanic children are the most affected with a rate of 25.8 percent (Weihrauch-Blüher, Schwarz & Klusmann, 2019). I agree with both Sarah and Marco. The society we are living in today has a lot of unhealthy foods that the children often consume, and this has resulted in high cases of overweight. Some of the unhealthy foods include sugary processed meat, potato chips, and sugary beverages. Such foods contain chemicals that make children overweight. One of the causes of obesity is consuming a lot of food that contains high-fat content and sugar levels. Children need to exercise more to help in breaking down how fat contents in the body.
Another factor that causes obesity among children is genetics. Scientists argue that there are genes that are inherited from parents, and that cause obesity among children. One of the genetic conditions that may make children overweight is Prader-Willi syndrome. Other genetic traits that may be inherited from parents and that may cause obesity include taking much time to break down kilojoules in the body and consuming too much food. Obesity causes brain impairment and reduces impulse control in both middle and late childhood (Chen et al. 2017). Some of the physical effects among children as a result of obesity include developing diabetes, high blood pressure, oversleeping, or having limited sleep and fracturing of bones. Socioemotional effects of obesity among children include discrimination, depression, and anxiety, and this lowers the quality of life. Childhood obesity is a serious health issue that should be highly addressed to prevent severe health consequences.
References
Weihrauch-Blüher, S., Schwarz, P., & Klusmann, J. H. (2019). Childhood obesity: increased risk of cardiometabolic disease and cancer in adulthood. Metabolism, 92, 147-152.
Chen, Z., Salam, M. T., Alderete, T. L., Habre, R., Bastain, T. M., Berhane, K., & Gilliland, F. D. (2017). Effects of childhood asthma on the development of obesity among school-aged children. American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, 195(9), 1181-1188.