Normal Timing
Approximate mean ages for the onset of various pubertal changes are as follows. Ages in parentheses are the approximate 3rd and 97th percentiles for attainment. For example, less than 3% of girls have not yet achieved thelarche by 13 years of age. Developmental changes during puberty in girls occur over a period of 3 – 5 years, usually between 10 and 15 years of age. They include the occurrence of secondary characteristics beginning with breast development, the adolescent growth spurt, the onset of menarche – which does not correspond to the end of puberty – and the acquisition of fertility, as well as profound psychological modifications.
The normal variation in the age at which adolescent changes occur is so wide that puberty cannot be considered to be pathologically delayed until the menarche has failed to occur by the age of 18 or testicular development by the age of 20.
| For North American, Indo-Iranian (India, Iran) and European girls | For North American, Indo-Iranian (India, Iran) and European boys |
|---|---|
|
|
The sources of the data, and a fuller description of normal timing and sequence of pubertal events, as well as the hormonal changes that drive them, are provided in the principal article on puberty.
Read more about this topic: Delayed Puberty
Famous quotes containing the words normal and/or timing:
“A normal adolescent is so restless and twitchy and awkward that he can mange to injure his knee—not playing soccer, not playing football—but by falling off his chair in the middle of French class.”
—Judith Viorst (20th century)
“Is it a new spring star
Within the timing chill,
Talking, or just a mime,
That rises in the blood
Thin Jack-and-Jilling seas
Without the human will?”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)