Is it Nature or Nurture??

Ever since I was younger I have always been so interested in Child Development.  It all started when I originally started off thinking about being a grade school teacher.  I have had many previous jobs dealing with children such as a lifeguard, a camp counselor, and a swim instructor for little children.  It always amazed me how when parents would come and pick their kids up, I could almost always tell what kid went to what parents based on the parent and child temperament.  It sounds so cliche but it really is "like father, like son" and "like mother, like daughter".  Parents can shape a child's development from before they are even out of the womb.  According to Parenting magazine, if a child hears music while inside the womb, they will recognize it when they are born.

Parents have so many responsibilities when it comes to raising healthy children but they need to start before the child is even born.  Mothers who are looking to get pregnant should go on a healthy diet for one year prior to even trying to get pregnant.  They when they are pregnant they should take their prenatal vitamins, go for their checkups, watch what they eat, eat a lot of fruits and veggies, and keep up minimal exercise.  The one thing that I recently learned about in my child development class is when a mom is breastfeeding, she should not eat spicy foods or it will really irritate the baby.  I NEVER KNEW THAT! Did you??

Child development is also so interesting to me mainly because it is such a crucial part of anyones development.  The love that you get when you are younger will impact you when you are older.  Even the things you see as a young child will stick in your mind and you will remember it when you are older.  The way your parents act towards you and the love and attention they show you will affect how you interact with others when you are older.

Now that I have given a little bit of background on why I chose this topic, I want to know what you guys think about a particular debate that has been going on for years, the nature/ nurture debate.  For those of you who do not know what this debate is about, its basically a debate to decide whether a child is developed through nature which is through the child genetics or nurture which is through the childs environment and upbringing.

I think that a child's development is formed by a child's upbringing and the environment in which they are raised.  Although I believe that you do inherit some personality traits from your parents, I think the main thing is Nurture.

What do you guys think?