Precocious puberty is when a child's body begins changing into that of an adult (puberty) too soon. When puberty begins before age 8 in girls and before age 9 in boys, it is considered precocious puberty.
What causes precocious puberty? It may be caused by tumors or growths on the ovaries, adrenal glands, pituitary gland, or brain. Other causes may include central nervous system problems, family history of the disease, or certain rare genetic syndromes. In many cases, no cause can be found for the disorder.
X-rays of your child's hand and wrist also are important for diagnosing precocious puberty. These X-rays can help the doctor determine your child's bone age, which shows if the bones are growing too quickly.
The average age for girls to start puberty is 11, while for boys the average age is 12. But it's perfectly normal for puberty to begin at any point between the ages of 8 and 13 in girls and 9 and 14 in boys.
Short height.
Children with precocious puberty may grow quickly at first and be tall, compared with their peers. But, because their bones mature more quickly than normal, they often stop growing earlier than usual. This can cause them to be shorter than average as adults.
Pubic hair of infancy is due to transiently elevated androgen levels in the first few months of life and increased sensitivity of sexual hair follicles to androgens. Precocious puberty can be differentiated by the concomitant appearance of pubic hair with breast development in girls or testicular enlargement in boys.
The signs of puberty include: Growth of pubic and other body hair. Growth spurt. Breast development.
Most cases of early puberty cannot be prevented. Limiting your child's exposure to reproductive hormones from outside sources may prevent precocious puberty. These sources may include estrogen or testosterone creams, lotions, or other medications.
While your child's physical changes may be a concern, it's also important to consider their psychological needs. Children with early puberty are more at risk for low self-esteem, depression, and substance abuse.
Among adolescent girls, early puberty is associated with more depressive disorders, substance use disorders, eating disorders and disruptive behavior disorders. Of those disorders, "the clearest and most consistent link is between early puberty and depression in girls," Graber says.
Fact: There is no scientific evidence that drinking milk causes early puberty. In the United States, girls are entering puberty at younger ages than they were in the first half of the 20th century. Researchers do not know the exact trigger for early-onset puberty, although it is likely influenced by many factors.
Sometimes, treatment of a related health problem can stop the precocious puberty. But in most cases, there's no other disease, so treatment usually involves hormone therapy to stop sexual development. The currently approved hormone treatment is with drugs called LHRH analogs.
Intensive physical training and negative energy balance alter the hypothalamic pituitary set point at puberty, prolong the prepubertal stage, and delay pubertal development and menarche in a variety of sports.
Most young people will have their first periods when they're between 11 and 14½, but anywhere from 9-16 years is considered normal. Periods are likely to start soon if your child has: had a major growth spurt. grown some underarm and pubic hair.
Usually, these changes begin between the ages of 8 and 14 for girls, and between 9 and 15 for guys. This wide range in age is normal, and it's why you may develop several years earlier (or later) than most of your friends.
Guys start producing spermatozoa (or sperm, for short) at the onset of puberty. Puberty starts at different times for different people. Boys usually start puberty when they're around 10 or 12 years old, though some start a little sooner and others a little later.
Boys tend to show the first physical changes of puberty between the ages of 10 and 16. They tend to grow most quickly between ages 12 and 15. The growth spurt of boys is, on average, about 2 years later than that of girls. By age 16, most boys have stopped growing, but their muscles will continue to develop.
Once it begins, it lasts about 2 to 5 years. But every child is different. And there is a wide range of what is “normal.” Your boy may begin puberty a little earlier or later and finish sooner or later than his friends.
Median age of development of hair in the scrotal area was 4.5 months (range, 3 to 7 months). Median age at presentation was 7 months (range, 4 to 10 months). On clinical examination, all 9 infants had more than 10 long pigmented hairs on the scrotum, except for 1 infant who had only 5 dark hairs.
A breast bud is a lump that develops under the nipple in the first stage of breast growth. The lump may be tender and sore, but it is completely normal in girls undergoing puberty. However, if your child is under eight years old and developing breast buds, she may be experiencing precocious puberty.
Common signs of early puberty are the appearance of pubic hair and body odor. A female might have early breast development, but this is often fatty tissue and may not lead to progressive growth.
Puberty won't begin until hormones released by the pituitary gland in your brain tell your body that its time. You may sometimes wish that you could start puberty faster. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do to control the timing of puberty.
Teenagers should limit salty, fatty and sugary foods, low-fibre foods, and drinks with caffeine or a lot of sugar.
The “unhealthy diet” pattern was significantly positively associated with precocious puberty in both boys (OR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.02–1.51) and girls (OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.10–1.56).