15 Feb Gross Motor Development in Adolescents: 5 Parenting Tips to Better Equip Your Child’s Development

This is a topic most familiar to many parents, I’m sure much research was done during the early stages of your child’s development. Which skills, to hone in on, or how better to develop balance and coordination, but what happens when your child is past those stages, and is starting to choose a path that may lead them away from a healthy lifestyle? How do you help them make choices that we all know will help them in their later years? 

In order to do this, you need to understand what adolescents is, and what is required in order for those choices to become second nature to them. You also need to understand the differences in girls relative to that of boys. 

As adolescents continue to mature, they become better able to move their bodies with greater skill and precision. These movement skills are divided into two types: gross motor skills and fine motor skills. Gross motor skills refer to the large muscle movements of the body (e.g., muscles used while running), while fine motor skills refer to the tiny and precise muscle movements (e.g., muscles used while writing or texting). Relative to boys, adolescent girls make only modest gains in their gross and fine motor skills until approximately 14 years of age. After this point, they generally do not experience any additional improvement in their motor skills unless they are specifically training for a sport or hobby which requires these skills. In contrast to girls, the motor skills of adolescent boys continue to improve, particularly gross motor skills. Adolescent boys rapidly gain physical speed, jumping strength, throwing strength, and endurance throughout the entire period of adolescence, even into their early 20’s.

During this stage of their growth parents can assist in making sure they receive the best advice from people they trust and admire. 

Here are 5 tips to better equip your child’s development: 

1. Be a Role Model: Practice what you preach, be active, eat healthy and get enough sleep. Most children notice more than we give them credit for, so setting a good example for them to follow is a great start. 
2. Eat Healthy: Limit as much junk food as possible, less take-aways, more variety on their plates in terms of vegetables. Less processed foods. Encourage your child to make healthy food choices by explaining why certain foods are not good for them.
3. Get Enough Sleep: I cannot stress how important this is, this improves mental health, emotional health and even physical health in your child. According to the Sleep foundation here are the recommended hours of sleep children should get:      

0-3 months (14-17 Hrs)              6-13 years (9-11 Hrs)

4-11 months (12-15 Hrs)            14-17 years (8-10 Hrs)

1-2 years (11-14 Hrs)                   18-25 years (7-9 Hrs)

3-5 years (10-13 Hrs)                  26-64 years (7-9 Hrs)             

65+ (7-8 Hrs)

4. Encourage Physical Activity: This does not have to be a sport specifically, any physical activity to give their body a chance to move is especially important and limit screen time.

5. Consider other influences: Just as they do for you, your children’s friends and the media can also affect healthy choices. Speak with your children about choices while you are watching TV, on the internet etc.