• Question: Why does our body change?

    Asked by Monica Sara to Carolyn, Peter, Richard, Sara, Siana on 12 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Richard Unwin

      Richard Unwin answered on 12 Nov 2015:

      Our body is constantly changing, from being a baby and growing into a child bones grow at different rates and our proportions change, then new hormones kick in and we change through puberty into adulthood. Not much happens then for the next 40 years or so until the wear and tear of ageing sets in. Why? It’s just how we, and most other animals, grow.

    • Photo: Sara Falcone

      Sara Falcone answered on 13 Nov 2015:

      Hmmm i have never thought about it. If we see it from the point of view of the evolution I think we and most of other animals have different stages of growth because it is more useful. We/they are born small because it is easier for a mother to carry a baby that a full grown adult. Then we grow up to fulfil our purposes, that back in the days and for animals was reproduction and passing our genes to the next generation. Of course to do that you’d have to have a strong body to fight, find food and carry a baby. Then we age to give space to others so we can keep a variation in genes. This is just my thought but I guess that growing up and ageing is a way for nature to keep things variable and changeable.

      Ps. Sorry for any typo/grammar, I’m on my phone 😉

    • Photo: Peter Francis

      Peter Francis answered on 13 Nov 2015:

      Humans are designed to adapt to the environment around them. For example when it gets cold the hairs on your arms stand up to try and create an extra layer of insulation or when it gets hot your hairs lie flat and you begin to sweat to get rid of excess heat. When you challenge your body with new exercise it adapts to become stronger and fitter to cope with the new stresses you are giving it. When you don’t challenge your body the opposite happens you increase your fat mass and reduce your muscle mass as you no longer need it. If you train for a marathon you adapt by improving endurance and becoming skinny in order to complete a long distance whereas when you do weight training you become bigger and stronger to cope with the load but obviously this would not be advantageous for running a long distance. So your body constantly adapts to the environment it is placed in, this is how we evolved and survived over so many millions of years.

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