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What Is Puberty

Puberty is the period of sexual maturation and development from childhood to adulthood. It involves physical changes like growth of pubic/armpit hair and genitals in both sexes. For girls, breast development and menstruation occur, while boys experience enlargement of testes and penis and a deeper voice. These stages are characterized by Tanner scales and typically occur between ages 10-16, with girls starting earlier on average. Growth spurts, bone/muscle development and weight/body composition changes also happen during puberty.

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397 views

What Is Puberty

Puberty is the period of sexual maturation and development from childhood to adulthood. It involves physical changes like growth of pubic/armpit hair and genitals in both sexes. For girls, breast development and menstruation occur, while boys experience enlargement of testes and penis and a deeper voice. These stages are characterized by Tanner scales and typically occur between ages 10-16, with girls starting earlier on average. Growth spurts, bone/muscle development and weight/body composition changes also happen during puberty.

Uploaded by

Monday Verdejo
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What is puberty?

Puberty is the period during which growing boys or girls undergo the process of sexual
maturation. Puberty involves a series of physical stages or steps that lead to the
achievement of fertility and the development of the so-called secondary sex characteristics,
the physical features associated with adult males and females (such as the growth of pubic
hair). While puberty involves a series of biological or physical transformations, the process
can also have an effect on the psychosocial and emotional development of the adolescent.

What are the physical stages of puberty in girls and


boys?
The changes that happen during the process of puberty have a typical pattern in
both boys and girls, with a generally predictable sequence of events. In most
girls, the first sign of puberty is the beginning of breast development (breast
buds), which occurs at an average age of approximately 11 years. In girls, the
growth of pubic hair typically begins next, followed by the growth of hair in the
armpits. A minority of girls, however, begin to develop pubic hair prior to breast
development. The onset of menstruation (having periods) usually happens later
than the other physical changes and usually occurs around two and a half years
after the onset of puberty.

A regular pattern of ovulation, corresponding to achievement of fertility, usually


develops rapidly once a girl begins having menstrual periods. However, girls who
have a later onset of menstruation (after age 13) tend to have lower rates of
regular ovulation in the years following the onset of menstruation. Studies have
shown that one-half of adolescent girls who first begin to menstruate after age 13
will not ovulate regularly over the next four and a half years.

In boys, an increase in the size of the testicles is the first change observed at the
onset of puberty. Enlargement of the testicles begins at an approximate average
age of 11 and a half years in boys and lasts for about six months. After
enlargement of the testicles, the penis also increases in size. Enlargement of the
testicles and penis almost always occurs before the development of pubic hair.
The next stage is the growth of pubic hair and hair in the armpits. Next, the voice
becomes deeper and muscles increase in size. The last step is usually the
development of facial hair.
Fertility is achieved in males near the onset of puberty, when a surge in
testosterone triggers the production of sperm.

The sequence of changes in puberty has been characterized by physicians and


is referred to as sexual maturity rating (SMR) or Tanner stages, named after a
physician who published a description of the sequence of physical changes in
puberty in 1969. Tanner stages are determined by the development of the
secondary sex characteristics and encompass changes in the size and
appearance of the external genitalia, the development of pubic hair, and breast
development in girls. Tanner stages allow doctors to classify the extent of
development of sex characteristics into five distinct steps ranging from stage 1
(prepubertal) to stage 5 (mature adult type).

What other changes in the body occur during puberty in


boys and girls?

The "growth spurt"

A rapid increase in height, referred to as a growth spurt, usually accompanies puberty. This
rapid increase in height typically lasts for two to three years. About 17%-18% of adult height
is attained during puberty. Although the increase in height affects both the trunk and the
limbs, growth in the limbs usually happens first. The growth spurt characteristically occurs
earlier in girls than in boys, with girls having the growth spurt approximately two years prior
to boys, on average. In girls, the growth spurt typically precedes the onset of menstruation
by about six months.

Bone growth and mineralization

Puberty is accompanied by growth of bones and increases in bone density in both boys and
girls. In girls, bone mineralization peaks around the time of the onset of menstrual periods,
after the time of peak height velocity (growth spurt). Studies have shown that bone width
increases first, followed by bone mineral content, and lastly by bone density. Because of the
lag between bone growth and achievement of full bone density, adolescents may be at
increased risk for fractures during this time.

Weight changes

Changes in weight and body composition occur in both boys and girls. Adolescent girls
develop a greater proportion of body fat than boys, with redistribution of the fat toward the
upper and lower portions of the body, leading to a curvier appearance. While boys also
have an increase in the growth of body fat, their muscle growth is faster. By the end of
puberty, boys have a muscle mass about one and a half times greater than that of
comparably sized girls.

Other changes

Maturation of the cardiovascular systems and lungsresults in an increased working capacity


of these organs, associated with an overall increase in endurance and strength. These
changes are more pronounced in boys than in girls.

When does puberty occur?


The onset of puberty varies among individuals. Puberty usually occurs in girls between the
ages of 10 and 14, while in boys it generally occurs later, between the ages of 12 and 16. In
some African-American girls, puberty begins earlier, at about age 9, meaning that puberty
occurs from ages 9 to 14.

Adolescent girls reach puberty today at earlier ages than were ever recorded previously.
Nutritional and other environmental influences may be responsible for this change. For
example, the average age of the onset of menstrual periods in girls was 15 in 1900. By the
1990s, this average had dropped to 12 and a half years of age.

When Does Life Begin?

The life of a baby begins long before he or she is born. A new individual human being begins at
fertilization, when the sperm and ovum meet to form a single cell. If the baby's life is not interrupted, he
or she will someday become an adult man or woman. Worldwide, millions of unborn babies are killed
each year. In the United States over 40 million unborn babies have been killed in the 40 years since
abortion was legalized and more than 1.2 million are killed each year.

The question of when life begins is not an issue of theology or philosophy; it can easily be answered by
elementary biology. For more than 100 years, medical science has known conclusively that every
individual's life begins at the moment of fertilization.

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