Modern Trends of the Development of Primary School-Aged Children (Literature Review)

The beginning of children’s school education is a potential risk of morphofunctional and psycho-physiological disorders in the body because of the significant reduction in daily physical activity, the change in day regimen, emotional and intellectual stress, which are often inadequate for the age-related psycho-physiological capabilities of schoolchildren. In this paper, we analyzed the literature on the development of modern children of primary school age according to the results of the assessment of morphological, functional and mental indicators. The identification of a general trend in the development of primary school-aged children is necessary for determination and development of health-saving programs to implement in the system of modern education. A review of data on the development of younger school children over the past 20 years shows an increase in the number of children with digressions in physical development, deterioration in physical fitness, delay of biological age from actual age, stress of the cardiovascular system, decrease in lung capacity and muscle strength. This pattern is manifested regardless of the region of residence and the nationality of children. There is an increase in the number of children with learning difficulties. Among the reasons for these changes, researchers highlight the complexity of the educational program, physical inactivity, the delay of physical development and, at the same time, medical and social successes of the state, allowing preserving the life of newborns even with somatic and neurological abnormalities. In connection with the identified trend of development of modern primary school children, the measures are needed to optimize children’s learning activities by the following criteria: level of physical activity, intensity of intellectual loads, rest mode.