{"id":179,"date":"2021-12-12T09:48:18","date_gmt":"2021-12-12T17:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/devpsyc\/?p=179"},"modified":"2022-06-25T10:32:36","modified_gmt":"2022-06-25T17:32:36","slug":"assessing-and-assisting-vulnerability-in-physical-health-and-well-being","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/devpsyc\/2021\/12\/12\/assessing-and-assisting-vulnerability-in-physical-health-and-well-being\/","title":{"rendered":"Assessing and Assisting Vulnerability in Physical Health and Well-Being"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Graeme Hughes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Early Developmental Instrument (EDI), physical health and well-being refers to a child\u2019s physical readiness, state of being, motor capabilities, and independence throughout the school day. The physical health and well-being scale of the EDI is split up into three categories: gross and fine motor skills, physical independence, and physical readiness for the school day(EDI Subscales Community Profile 2019). Gross and fine motor skills can be exemplified by the ability to hold small items, energy throughout the day, and the child\u2019s overall mobility (EDI Subscales Community Profile 2019). Physical independence refers to coordination, the ability to go to the bathroom alone, and establishment of a dominant and nondominant hand (EDI Subscales Community Profile 2019).  Finally physical readiness for the school day refers to whether or not the child is too sick, too tired, and dressed appropriately for school. This scale assesses the ability to physically cope during the school day (EDI Subscales Community Profile 2019).  The physical health and well-being of a child is influenced by a mix of environmental and genetic factors that will affect each other and work together to determine the child\u2019s developmental outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Both the child\u2019s genetics and the environment of upbringing can influence a child\u2019s  physical health and well-being. Genetic risk factors such as physical mutations, the presence of a genetic disorder, or even a chromosomal abnormality can account for vulnerabilities in physical development. Environmental risk factors that promote vulnerability are factors like: the presence of an abuser in the family, living in a low SES (socioeconomic status) household, the absence of a parent figure, reduced opportunity to engage in physical activity, or even the presence of a bully at school. Resilience factors that can promote physical development are things like: access to physical activity, a strong connection with a parental or adult figure, contact with relatives, and access to school support groups (Berk 2021). Resources like this can promote physical development through continual practice, or close adult figures could intervene and work with the child to facilitate healthy development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After researching the data on the EDI Subscales Community Profile (2019), and the  (EDI Wave 7 Community Profile 2019) for West Newton, it was made apparent to me that children that live in this neighborhood are more likely than the average B.C. to be vulnerable on the physical health and well-being scale. The provincial average of children displaying vulnerability in their physical health and well-being is 15%, while 20% of children in West Newton are vulnerable in this scale, significantly higher than the provincial average (EDI Wave 7 Community Profile 2019). Data also shows that West Newton\u2019s vulnerability has been stable over the long term but has recently gotten worse, while provincial trends for vulnerability have gotten worse over time and have recently plateaued (EDI Wave 7 Community Profile 2019). West Newton is located relatively close to the most vulnerable neighborhood in the province: North Whalley, which is 27% vulnerable (EDI Subscales Community Profile 2019). In the subscales of physical readiness and physical independence children in North Whalley have become more vulnerable, while gross and fine motor skills have stayed relatively the same; In West Newton vulnerability over time has gotten worse in the physical independence and physical readiness subscales and children have become less vulnerable in their gross and fine motor skills (EDI Subscales Community Profile 2019).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Factors that may contribute to West Newton\u2019s high vulnerability can be factors like the high population, high number of single parent households, and limited opportunities to get children to engage in physical play (Census & National Household Survey 2016). A high population can contribute to vulnerability because the limited number of organized sports programs in West Newton can fill up quickly and there may not be spots for every child. Sports programs for children and even sports equipment can also be very expensive and with West Newton\u2019s high population of single parent and low SES families, children in these families can have less opportunities to be physically active Census & National Household Survey. (2016).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children that are vulnerable in the subscale: Gross & Fine Motor Skills, will be low energy during the school day, children will have trouble holding small objects, and will have trouble manipulating objects (EDI Wave 7 Community Profile 2019). Vulnerable children with low energy will have trouble making it through the entire day, concerns arise with the amount of sleep the child is achieving each day. Developing children are in need of physical stimulation when developing their fine motor skills and coordination so concerns can also arise that the child\u2019s parents are not engaging in enough physical play with their children (Berk 2021). If children are to continue without intervention later in school they may fall behind in activities that are simple to their peers. These children can have difficulties with tasks like writing, sitting upright, or even walking up stairs (Logsdon 2021). Increased physical play can actually help facilitate development of gross motor skills in children (Berk 2021). Parents can also aid their child\u2019s fine motor skill development by allowing their child to play with toys or items that allow them to use the small muscles in their hands (NAEYC n.d.). Allowing the child to do activities like setting the table, holding utensils, or playing board games (NAEYC n.d.). Contact with a pediatrician or physiotherapist can also be a great resource because they can supply the child with exercises to assist with fine motor development (Logsdon 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vulnerability in the Physical Readiness for the School Day subscale can be identified when the child is frequently underdressed or overdressed for the school day, the child is too tired or sick for the school day, the child is constantly late, or the child is constantly hungry or has not eaten before school  (EDI Wave 7 Community Profile 2019). The child\u2019s homelife can be brought into question when considering these factors. When children constantly come to school underdressed or hungry, their families may not have enough time or money to properly take care of their child. When a child is constantly sick or too tired they may be lacking a proper diet or proper sleeping schedule, and when a child is constantly too late they may be lacking appropriate parental guidance at home. Children that continue with these vulnerabilities without intervention are at risk to become even more sick and physically underdeveloped compared to their peers. Children under these circumstances can also fall behind in school because they are busy worrying about their home life when they should be learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children that are Vulnerable in the Physical Independance subscale are not independent in their washroom habits, they have yet to establish a dominant hand or hand preference, and have trouble with their coordination\u00a0 (EDI Wave 7 Community Profile 2019). Vulnerable children have great trouble with tasks that take coordination and fine motor skills. These children will be unable to be self-sufficient if intervention is not taken, and essential tasks like making meals or going to the bathroom will be almost impossible to do without the help of an adult. Interventions to improve vulnerability in this subscale can be coordination and fine motor skill exercises. Coordination becomes better with practice and after constant facilitated practice these vulnerable children can become more proficient. In all, children\u2019s physical health and well-being is a vital factor when healthy development is desired. We can see that over time vulnerability in this scale is slowly becoming more common, and changes can definitely be made to combat this eventual growth. Acts like adult intervention in schools or done by parents at home, or introduction to resources that harbour resilience must be implemented to children in vulnerable populations. Otherwise children who are developing slower than their peers may get left behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Berk L. (2021). Infants and Children: Prenatal Through Middle Childhood, 9e<\/em>. Pearson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Census & National Household Survey. (2016) Retrieved October 24, 2021, from <\/a>http:\/\/earlylearning.ubc.ca\/maps\/<\/a>data\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EDI Subscales Community profile. (2019). Retrieved October 24, 2021, from <\/a>http:\/\/earlylearning.ubc.ca\/maps\/edi\/sd\/36\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

EDI Wave 7 Community profile. (2019). Retrieved October 24, 2021, from <\/a>http:\/\/earlylearning.ubc.ca\/maps\/edi\/sd\/36\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Help your child build fine motor skills. <\/em>NAEYC.(n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https:\/\/www.naeyc.org\/our-work\/families\/help-your-child-build-fine-motor-skills<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Logsdon, A. (2021, October 25). Could your child have gross motor skill delays? Verywell Family. Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https:\/\/www.verywellfamily.com\/what-are-gross-motor-skills-2162137<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Graeme Hughes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13095,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,8,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-childhood","category-physical","category-physical-health-and-well-being"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/devpsyc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/devpsyc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/devpsyc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/devpsyc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13095"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/devpsyc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/devpsyc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":180,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/devpsyc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179\/revisions\/180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/devpsyc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/devpsyc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/devpsyc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}