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Being prepubescent is not the same thing as being preadolescent. Instead, prepubescent (and sometimes child) is a term for boys and girls who have not developed secondary sex characteristics, [15] while preadolescent is generally defined as those ranging from age 9 to 12 years. [16] Preadolescence may also be defined as the period from 10 to 13 ...
Two of the most significant differences between puberty in females and puberty in males are the age at which it begins, and the major sex steroids involved, the androgens and the estrogens. Although there is a wide range of normal ages, females typically begin the process of puberty around age 10½; males at ages 11½—12.
Girls have usually reached full physical development around ages 15–17, [3] [11] [34] while boys usually complete puberty around ages 16–17. [11] [34] [35] Any increase in height beyond the post-pubertal age is uncommon. Girls attain reproductive maturity about four years after the first physical changes of puberty appear. [3]
Due to natural variation, individuals pass through the Tanner stages at different rates, depending in particular on the timing of puberty.Among researchers who study puberty, the Tanner scale is commonly considered the "gold standard" for assessing pubertal status when it is conducted by a trained medical examiner. [5]
Girls may begin puberty, starting with breast development and followed by a change in facial shape; Adult-like motor planning; Motor planning includes an individual's choice of movements and trajectory of such movements. Children begin to display motor planning in preference of certain body parts such as hand preference.
Some differences are seen in fluid reasoning and visual processing, as until about the age of four girls outperform boys in tests of these skills, but by about six or seven boys and girls score similarly. This is also true of IQ tests where girls tend to outscore boys, but again, as they age the gap lessens. [109]
Until the maturation of their reproductive capabilities, the pre-pubertal physical differences between boys and girls are the external sex organs. On average, girls begin puberty around ages 10–11 and end puberty around 15–17; boys begin around ages 11–12 and end around 16–17.
Studies indicate that breast development in girls and the appearance of pubic hair in both girls and boys are starting earlier than in previous generations. [18] [35] [36] As a result, "early puberty" in children as young as 8 and 9 is no longer considered abnormal, particularly with girls.