During the past decade physical and mental development studies of Korean children have been made.
In these studies, physical growth including height, weight, head and chest circumference, and the Bone Age, were standardized The author1s present study...
During the past decade physical and mental development studies of Korean children have been made.
In these studies, physical growth including height, weight, head and chest circumference, and the Bone Age, were standardized The author1s present study was undertaken in an attempt to establish the range of normal mental development of physical and motor activity for the Korean form newborn to 3 years of age.
2053 normal children (1139 boys and 914 girls) living in various parts of the country were examined by direct observation and questionary check method which is simple in its procedure and easy to determine.
The relationship between physical and osseous development and the mental development was also investigated. A comparison of the developmental quotient (D.Q.) also was made among Korean and Japanese, American, children.
The characteristics of child growth and development can aid in understanding normal children both mentally and physically. Intelligent handling of children requires a knowledge of how children grow and how such growth can be favorably influenced. Doctors who do not understand normal children are handicapped in the diagnosis and treatment of abnormal children.
Children are particuiarly in need of guidance from doctors, as well as from teachers, child health workers and others outside the home environment. If we know something of the sequence of growth we should be able to provide instruction which would help children to make the best of each phase and prepare better for each ensuing phase.
On looking over the literature regarding these studies on oriental children, a few reports were made by japanese authors. However no data or standard is available by which to evaluate the D.Q. for Korean children. Foreigh standard are not applicable to Korean children.
Thus it is strongly urged that physicians working in the field of pediatrics and public health develop a new standard applicable to the evaluation of mental status of Korean children. The authors have attempted to establish simple method to evaluate Development of physical and motor activity the standard of mental development of Korean children.
We have applied methods which combines both crosssectional and longitudinal studies. These concern the measuring and testing of normal Korean children from birth to three years of age.
Between 1961 and 1964, 2053 children (1139 boys, 914 girls) have been examined.
In order to evaluate the D.Q., total 268 items of tests were applied to the five areas (motor, behavior, speech, eating habit, social development etc.) according to age, sex, feeding method, geographical, socioeconomic standard. the relationship between physical measurement and mental development, and also skeletal maturation.
A comparison of the D.Q. was ,made betweem rural and urban children, breast fed and artificially fed, orphaned children and those raised in the home envioronment. A comparison of D.Q. was also made between Korean and foreign children including Japanese and American.
The data and results of the studies are summarized in Fig. I, and 10.
In order to evaluate the status of the mental development of Korean children, the developmental patterns were classified (divided) into 5areas of development. These included 268 items and 18 groups, according to the age, and geographical distribution.
Results:
1. The range of the normal D.Q. is much wider than that of the physical and skeletal development.
2. The average D.Q. of boys (D.Q.=110,4) was higher than that of girls (D.Q.=108,5) through all age groups, except from 5 to 10 months of age.
3. In comparing the D.Q. of Korean and japanese children, the range of D.Q. among the Korean children was slightly higher than that of Japanese children in all age group.
4. the motor development of Korean infants was somewhat ahead of the American children (infants).
5. The D.Q. of the breast fed children were higher than those of the artificially fed children (D.Q.=112.8: D.Q.=106.9)
6. A comparison of D.Q. was made between 238 orphan children and 336 ordinary children raised in their homes. In this comparison,the D.Q. of the orphan children were lower than those of ordinary children in all age groups.
7. No significant relationship was found either between physical and mental development, or between skeletal maturation and mental development.