Diagnostic Criteria
Studies indicate that breast development in girls and pubic hair in girls and boys are starting earlier than in previous generations. As a result, "early puberty" in children, particularly girls, as young as 9 and 10 is no longer considered abnormal, although it may be upsetting to parents and can be harmful to children who mature physically at a time when they are immature mentally.
No age reliably separates normal from abnormal processes in children, but the following age thresholds for evaluation are thought to minimize the risk of missing a significant medical problem:
- Breast development in boys before appearance of pubic hair or testicular enlargement.
- Pubic hair or genital enlargement (gonadarche) in boys with onset before 9.5 years.
- Pubic hair (pubarche) before 8 or breast development (thelarche) in girls with onset before 7 years.
- Menstruation (menarche) in girls before 10 years.
Read more about this topic: Precocious Puberty, Clinical and Social Significance
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