Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Lived Experience of Growing

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Biological Measures of Human Experience across the Lifespan

Abstract

Growth is a fundamental biological process of life. For more than a century, scientific ideas about how growth occurs put it into the category of background noise to daily life: an invisible aspect of getting bigger day-by-day that occurs unless a child becomes ill and can not grow. Careful measurement of individuals, however, documents that growth is not a backdrop, but a discrete time-specific event. These events impinge on individual well-being, alter sensory perceptions and influence behavior. Understanding fluctuations in behavior, particularly among infants, is challenging at best, limited by their developing communicative skills. Parents try to get into the head of their small children and understand the subjective experiences that drive their sometimes erratic behavior: the child who seemed perfectly content yesterday is suddenly a distraught individual for whom no action can make things right. Measurement has identified the existence of specific biological sources for such inexplicable outbursts: the child is growing. The subjective experience of growing is one of hunger, sleep changes, agitation and irritation. It looks like a child with a behavior problem, prompting parents to become concerned that their child needs to be disciplined. The objective reality of a growth spurt is a time of biological variation characterized by fluctuations in hormones and the chemistry of tissue alterations. Knowing that a child is growing brings concordance between behavior and biology and is empowering to both parents and children in coping with a fundamental experience in life. Growth is a lived experience

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adolph, K. E., & Tamis-LeMonda, C. S. (2014). The costs and benefits of development: The transition from crawling to walking. Child Development Perspectives, 8(4), 187–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barker, D. J. (2007). The origins of the developmental origins theory. Journal of Internal Medicine, 261(5), 412–417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barr, R. G. (1990). The normal crying curve: What do we really know? Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 32(4), 356–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barr, R. G., Barr, M., Fujiwara, T., Conway, J., Catherine, N., & Brant, R. (2009). Do educational materials change knowledge and behaviour about crying and shaken baby syndrome? A randomized controlled trial. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 180(7), 727–733.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batstra, L., Hadders-Algra, M., Nieweg, E. D. O., Van Tol, D., Pijl, S. J., & Frances, A. (2012). Childhood emotional and behavioral problems: Reducing overdiagnosis without risking undertreatment. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 54(6), 492–494.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bechtel, K., Le, K., Martin, K. D., Shah, N., Leventhal, J. M., & Colson, E. (2011). Impact of an educational intervention on caregivers’ beliefs about infant crying and knowledge of shaken baby syndrome. Academic Pediatrics, 11(6), 481–486.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beebe, S. A., Casey, R., & Pinto-Martin, J. (1993). Association of reported infant crying and maternal parenting stress. Clinical Pediatrics, 32(1), 15–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brazelton, T. B. (1962). Crying in infancy. Pediatrics, 29(4), 579–588.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butler, A. A., & Le Roith, D. (2001). Control of growth by the somatropic axis: Growth hormone and the insulin-like growth factors have related and independent roles. Annual Review of Physiology, 63, 141–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caino, S., Kelmansky, D., Adamo, P., & Lejarraga, H. (2006). Short-term growth in healthy infants, school children and adolescent girls. Annals of Human Biology, 33, 213–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caino, S., Kelmansky, D., Adamo, P., & Lejarraga, H. (2010). Short-term growth in head circumference and its relationship with supine length in healthy infants. Annals of Human Biology, 37(1), 108–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cameron, J. L. (2004). Interrelationships between hormones, behavior, and affect during adolescence: Understanding hormonal, physical, and brain changes occurring in association with pubertal activation of the reproductive axis. Introduction to part III. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1021(1), 110–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cameron, N., Preece, M. A., & Cole, T. J. (2005). Catch-up growth or regression to the mean? Recovery from stunting revisited. American Journal of Human Biology, 17(4), 412–417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Catherine, N. L. A., Ko, J. J., & Barr, R. G. (2008). Getting the word out: Advice on crying and colic in popular parenting magazines. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 29(6), 508–511.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cirgin Ellett, M. L. (2003). What is known about infant colic? Gastroenterology Nursing, 26(2), 60–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cole, T. J. (2012). The development of growth references and growth charts. Annals of Human Biology, 39(5), 382–394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conrad, P. (2005). The shifting engines of medicalization. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 46(1), 3–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coons, S., & Guilleminault, C. (1982). Development of sleep-wake patterns and non-rapid eye movement sleep stages during the first six months of life in normal infants. Pediatrics, 69(6), 793–798.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crockenberg, S. B., & Smith, P. (2002). Antecedents of mother–infant interaction and infant irritability in the first 3 months of life. Infant Behavior and Development, 25(1), 2–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • El-Serag, H. B., Sweet, S., Winchester, C. C., & Dent, J. (2014). Update on the epidemiology of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease: A systematic review. Gut, 63(6), 871–880.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emde, R. N., Gaensbauer, T., & Harmon, R. H. (1976). Emotional expression in infancy. New York: International Universities Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Epstein, H. T. (1974a). Phrenoblysis: Special brain and mind growth periods. I. Human brain and skull development. Developmental Psychobiology, 7(3), 207–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Epstein, H. T. (1974b). Phrenoblysis: Special brain and mind growth periods. I. Human mental development. Developmental Psychobiology, 7(3), 217–224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans, A. M. (2008). Growing pains: Contemporary knowledge and recommended practice. Journal of Foot and Ankle Research, 1(1), 4. doi:10.1186/1757-1146-1-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Figueras, F., & Gardosi, J. (2011). Intrauterine growth restriction: New concepts in antenatal surveillance, diagnosis, and management. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 204(4), 288–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finkelstein, J. W., Anders, T. F., Sacher, E. J., Roffwarg, H. P., & Hellman, L. D. (1971). Behavioral state, sleep stage and growth hormone levels in human infants. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 32(3), 368–371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedland, O., Hashkes, P. J., Jaber, L., Cohen, H. A., Eliakim, A., Wolach, B., et al. (2005). Decreased bone speed of sound in children with growing pains measured by quantitative ultrasound. Journal of Rheumatology, 32(7), 1354–1357.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frongillo, E. A., & Lampl, M. (2011). Early identification of children at risk of later obesity. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 165(11), 1043–1044.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill, M. S., Tillmann, V., Veldhuis, J. D., & Clayton, P. E. (2001). Patterns of GH output and their synchrony with short-term height increments influence stature and growth performance in normal children. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 86(12), 5860–5863.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldsmith, M. I., Fisher, S., Waterman, R., & Johnson, S. L. (2003). Saltatory control of isometric growth in the zebrafish caudal fin is disrupted in long fin and rapunzel mutants. Developmental Biology, 259(2), 303–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grummer-Strawn, L. M., Reinold, C., & Krebs, N. F. (2010). Use of World Health Organization and CDC growth charts for children aged 0–59 months in the United States. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 59(RR09), 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heine, R. G., Jaquiery, A., Lubitz, L., Cameron, D. J., & Catto-Smith, A. G. (1995). Role of gastro-oesophageal reflux in infant irritability. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 73(2), 121–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hermanussen, M. (1998). The analysis of short-term growth. Hormone Research, 49, 53–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hermanussen, M., Bugiel, S., Aronson, S., & Moell, C. (1992). A non-invasive technique for the accurate measurement of leg length in animals. Growth, Development, and Aging, 56(3), 129–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holl, R. W., Hartman, M. L., Veldhuis, J. D., Taylor, W. M., & Thorner, M. O. (1991). Thirty-second sampling of plasma growth hormone in man: Correlation with sleep stages. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 72(4), 854–861.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howard, C. R., Lanphear, N., Lanphear, B. P., Eberly, S., & Lawrence, R. A. (2006). Parental responses to infant crying and colic: The effect on breastfeeding duration. Breastfeeding Medicine, 1(3), 146–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, S. A., & Cohen, P. (2007). The somatomedin hypothesis 2007: 50 years later. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 92(12), 4529–4535.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kierans, W. J., Joseph, K. S., Luo, Z. C., Platt, R., Wilkins, R., & Kramer, M. S. (2008). Does one size fit all? The case for ethnic-specific standards of fetal growth. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 8, 1. doi:10.1186/1471-2393-8-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kleinman, A. (1980). Patients and healers in the context of culture. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lampl, M. (1995). Leaps and bounds: How children grow. Pediatric Basics, 72, 10–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lampl, M. (2012). Perspectives on modeling human growth: Mathematical models and growth biology. Annals of Human Biology, 39, 342–352.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lampl, M., Ashizawa, K., Kawabata, M., & Johnson, M. L. (1998). An example of variation and pattern in saltation and stasis growth dynamics. Annals of Human Biology, 25, 203–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lampl, M., Birch, L., Picciano, M. F., Johnson, M. L., & Frongillo, E. A., Jr. (2001). The child factor in measurement dependability. American Journal of Human Biology, 13, 548–557.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lampl, M., & Emde, R. N. (1983). Episodic growth in infancy: A preliminary report on length, head circumference, and behavior. In K. W. Fischer (Ed.), Levels and transitions in children’s development (pp. 21–36). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lampl, M., & Johnson, M. L. (1997). Identifying saltatory growth patterns in infancy: A comparison of results based on measurement protocol. American Journal of Human Biology, 9, 343–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lampl, M., & Johnson, M. L. (2011a). Infant growth in length follows prolonged sleep and increased naps. Sleep, 34(5), 641–650.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lampl, M., & Johnson, M. L. (2011b). Infant head circumference growth is saltatory and coupled to length growth. Early Human Development, 87(5), 361–368.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lampl, M., & Thompson, A. L. (2007). Growth chart curves do not describe individual growth biology. American Journal of Human Biology, 19, 643–653.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lampl, M., Veldhuis, J. D., & Johnson, M. L. (1992). Saltation and stasis: A model of human growth. Science, 258(5083), 801–803.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lasky, R. E., Klein, R. E., Yarbrough, C., Engle, P. L., Lechtig, A., & Martorell, R. (1981). The relationship between physical growth and infant behavioral development in rural Guatemala. Child Development, 52, 219–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, C., Barr, R. G., Catherine, N., & Wicks, A. (2007). Age-related incidence of publicly reported shaken baby syndrome cases: Is crying a trigger for shaking? Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 28(4), 288–293.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Long, T., & Johnson, M. (2001). Living and coping with excessive infantile crying. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 34(2), 155–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lowe, R. M., & Hashkes, P. J. (2008). Growing pains: A noninflammatory pain syndrome in early childhood. Nature Clinical Practice Rheumatology, 4(10), 542–549.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mackie, E. J., Tatarczuch, L., & Mirams, M. (2011). The skeleton: A multi-functional complex organ. The growth plate chondrocyte and endochondral ossification. Journal of Endocrinology, 211, 109–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manners, P. (1999). Are growing pains a myth? Australian Family Physician, 28(2), 124–127.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCall, R. B., Meyers, E. D., Jr., Hartman, J., & Roche, A. F. (1983). Developmental changes in head-circumference and mental-performance growth rates: A test of Epstein’s phrenoblysis hypothsis. Developmental Psychobiology, 16(6), 457–468.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCallum, S. M., Rowe, H. J., Gurrin, L., Quinlivan, J. A., Rosenthal, D. A., & Fisher, J. R. W. (2011). Unsettled infant behaviour and health service use: A cross-sectional community survey in Melbourne, Australia. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 47(11), 818–823.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Megel, M. E., Wilson, M. E., Bravo, K., McMahon, N., & Towne, A. (2011). Baby lost and found: Mothers’ experiences of infants who cry persistently. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 25(3), 144–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mei, Z., Grummer-Strawn, L. M., Thompson, D., & Dietz, W. H. (2004). Shifts in percentiles of growth during early childhood: Analysis of longitudinal data from the California Child Health and Development Study. Pediatrics, 113(6), e617–e627.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nilsson, O., Marino, R., De Luca, F., Phillip, M., & Baron, J. (2005). Endocrine regulation of the growth plate. Hormone Research, 64, 157–165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noonan, K. J., Farnum, C. E., Leiferman, E. M., Lampl, M., Markel, M. D., & Wilsman, N. J. (2004). Growing pains: Are they due to increased growth during recumbency as documented in a lamb model? Journal of Pediatric Orthopedics, 24(6), 726–731.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oberklaid, F., Amos, D., Liu, C., Jarman, F., Sanson, A., & Prior, M. (1997). “Growing pains”: Clinical and behavioral correlates in a community sample. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 18(2), 102–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ogden, C. (2005). Grow baby grow. Parents, 141–143.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pass, C., MacRae, V. E., Ahmed, S. F., & Farquharson, C. (2009). Inflammatory cytokines and the GH/IGF-I axis: Novel actions on bone growth. Cell Biochemistry and Function, 27, 119–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peirano, P., Algarı́n, C., & Uauy, R. (2003). Sleep-wake states and their regulatory mechanisms throughout early human development. The Journal of Pediatrics, 143(4, Supplement), 70–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ranke, M. B. (1996). Towards a consensus on the definition of idiopathic short stature. Hormone Research, 45(Suppl 2), 64S–66S.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rapkin, A. J., & Akopians, A. L. (2012). Pathophysiology of premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Menopause International, 18(2), 52–59.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reifsnider, E., Allan, J., & Percy, M. (2000). Mothers’ explanatory models of lack of child growth. Public Health Nursing, 17(6), 434–442.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reijneveld, S. A., Van der Wal, M. F., Brugman, E., Sing, R. A. H., & Verloove-Vanhorick, S. P. (2004). Infant crying and abuse. The Lancet, 364(9442), 1340–1342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reilly, J. J., & Kelly, J. (2011). Long-term impact of overweight and obesity in childhood and adolescence on morbidity and premature mortality in adulthood: Systematic review. International Journal of Obesity, 35, 891–898.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodin, M. (1992). The social construction of premenstrual syndrome. Social Science and Medicine, 35(1), 49–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg, C. E. (2002). The tyranny of diagnosis: Specific entities and individual experience. Milbank Quarterly, 80(2), 237–260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaughn O’Brien, P. M., Rapkin, A. J., & Schmidt, P. J. (2007). The diagnosis of PMS/PMDD—The current debate. The premenstrual syndromes: PMS and PMDD. London: Informa Healthcare.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silvers, J. B., Marinova, D., Mercer, M. B., Connors, A., & Cuttler, L. (2010). A national study of physician recommendations to initiate and discontinue growth hormone for short stature. Pediatrics, 126(3), 468–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sisk, C. L., & Foster, D. L. (2004). The neural basis of puberty and adolescence. Nature Neuroscience, 7(10), 1040–1047.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sisk, C. L., & Zehr, J. L. (2005). Pubertal hormones organize the adolescent brain and behavior. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 26(3–4), 163–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swain, J. E., Mayes, L. C., & Leckman, J. F. (2004). The development of parent–infant attachment through dynamic and interactive signaling loops of care and cry. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 27(4), 472–473.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tanner, J. M. (1981). A history of the study of human growth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taveras, E. M., Rifas-Shiman, S. L., Sherry, B., Oken, E., Haines, J., Kleinman, K., et al. (2011). Crossing growth percentiles in infancy and risk of obesity in childhood. Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, 165(11), 993–998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thalange, N. K. S., Foster, P. J., Gill, M. S., Price, D. A., & Clayton, P. E. (1996). A model of normal prepubertal growth. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 75, 427–431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, A. L., & Lampl, M. (2013). Prenatal and postnatal energetic conditions and sex steroid levels across the first year of life. American Journal of Human Biology, 25, 643–654.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, A. L., Whitten, P. L., Johnson, M. L., & Lampl, M. (2010). Noninvasive methods for estradiol recovery from infant fecal samples. Frontiers in Physiology, 1, 148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, A. L., Whitten, P. L., & Lampl, M. (2011). Measurement of testosterone in infant fecal samples. American Journal of Human Biology, 23, 820–822.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tillmann, V., Gill, M. S., Thalange, N. K. S., Birkinshaw, G., Price, D. A., Fraser, W. D., et al. (2000). Short-term changes in growth and urinary growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor-I and markers of bone turnover excretion in healthy prepubertal children. Growth Hormone & IGF Research, 10(1), 28–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UNICEF. (2014). The state of the world’s children 2015: Reimagine the future: Innovation for every child. New York: United Nations Children’s Fund.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Cauter, E., & Plat, L. (1996). Physiology of growth hormone secretion during sleep. Journal of Pediatrics, 128(5 Pt 2), S32–S37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Wingen, G. A., Ossewaarde, L., Bäckström, T., Hermans, E. J., & Fernández, G. (2011). Gonadal hormone regulation of the emotion circuitry in humans. Neuroscience, 191, 38–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walters, A. S. (2002). Is there a subpopulation of children with growing pains who really have restless legs syndrome? A review of the literature. Sleep Medicine, 3(2), 93–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, J., Zhou, J., & Bondy, C. A. (1999). Igf1 promotes longitudinal bone growth by insulin-like actions augmenting chondrocyte hypertrophy. The FASEB Journal, 13(14), 1985–1990.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weaver, L. T. (2011). How did babies grow 100 years ago? European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 65, 3–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wessel, M. A., Cobb, J. C., Jackson, E. B., Harris, G. S., & Detwiler, A. C. (1954). Paroxysmal fussing in infancy, sometimes called “colic”. Pediatrics, 14(5), 421–435.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yonkers, K. A., Pearlstein, T. B., & Gotman, N. (2013). A pilot study to compare fluoxetine, calcium, and placebo in the treatment of premenstrual syndrome. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, 33(5), 614–620.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for the Study of Human Health, Department of Antropology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA

    Michelle Lampl & Amanda Mummert

  2. Center for the Study of Human Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA

    Meriah Schoen

Authors
  1. Michelle Lampl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Amanda Mummert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Meriah Schoen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michelle Lampl .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    Lynnette Leidy Sievert

  2. University of Hawaii, Hilo, Hawaii, USA

    Daniel E. Brown

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Lampl, M., Mummert, A., Schoen, M. (2016). The Lived Experience of Growing. In: Sievert, L., Brown, D. (eds) Biological Measures of Human Experience across the Lifespan. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44103-0_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44103-0_4

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-44101-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-44103-0

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation