Body Growth and Change : ADOLESCENCE

 Body Growth and Change  - ADOLESCENCE:

Puberty : is a period of rapid physical maturation involving hormonal and bodily changes that occur primarily in early adolescence. The features and proportions of the body change as the individual becomes capable of reproducing.

Puberty

 Determinants of Puberty: important physical changes and psychological accompaniments

Period of rapid physical and hormonal changes

Physical changes; growth spurt

Determinants of Puberty:

 important marker for the beginning of adolescence.

There are wide variations in the onset and progression of puberty. 

begin as early as 10 years of age or as late as 13½ for boys. It might end as early as 13 years or as late as 17 years.

Girls – menarche (a girl’s first menstruation), hips widen, body hair. Onset for most: 9 to 15 years of age. 

Boys – first ejaculation, grow taller, body hair.  Onset for most: 10 to 17 years of age.

Precocious puberty is the term used to describe the very early onset and rapid progression of puberty. Onset occurs before 8 years of age in girls and before 9 years of age in boys.

10 times more often in girls than in boys. When it occurs, usually treated with suppressing gonadotropic secretions, which temporarily stops pubertal change. The reasons for this treatment is that children who  have short stature, early sexual capability, and the potential for engaging in age-inappropriate behavior.

The most important factors that influence the onset and sequence of puberty are heredity, hormones, weight, and body fat.

 Heredity:  Programmed into the genes of every human being is a timing for the emergence of puberty. Nonetheless, within the boundaries of about 9 to 16 years of age, environmental factors such as health, weight, and stress can influence the onset and duration of puberty.

Hormones: Hormones are powerful chemical substances secreted by the endocrine glands and carried through the body by the bloodstream. In puberty, the secretion of key hormones is controlled by the interaction of the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the gonads (sex glands).