Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads : the ovaries in a female, the testicles in a male.
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] In HIV treatment, the Tanner scale is used to determine which regimen to follow for pediatric or adolescent patients on antiretroviral therapy (adult, adolescent ...
[20] [21] Puberty which starts earlier than usual is known as precocious puberty, and puberty which starts later than usual is known as delayed puberty. Notable among the morphologic changes in size, shape, composition, and functioning of the pubertal body, is the development of secondary sex characteristics , the "filling in" of the child's ...
The increased secretion of testosterone from the testes during puberty causes the male secondary sexual characteristics to be manifested. [23] Testosterone directly increases size and mass of muscles, vocal cords, and bones, deepening of the voice, and changing the shape of the face and skeleton. [1]
In the first three units the programme includes gently introducing sex education to younger children, through puberty and birth, to media images, same-sex relationships and teenage pregnancy. The fourth unit covers puberty and body image in more detail, with a focus on maintaining a healthy mind and body.
Starting puberty significantly early — younger than age 8 in girls, 9 in boys — may have health effects lasting into adulthood, including higher risks of breast cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
Mini-puberty is a transient hormonal activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis that occurs in infants shortly after birth. This period is characterized by a surge in the secretion of gonadotropins (LH and FSH) and sex steroids (testosterone in males and estradiol in females), similar to but less intense than the hormonal changes that occur in puberty during adolescence.
Puberty is considered delayed when the child has not begun puberty when two standard deviations or about 95% of children from similar backgrounds have. [7] [8] [9]In North American girls, puberty is considered delayed when breast development has not begun by age 13, when they have not started menstruating by age 15, [2] and when there is no increased growth rate. [8]