Study says boys reach puberty at earlier age
Source: Agencies |
December 8, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
BOYS today may be on a faster track to puberty than their fathers' generation, reaching the milestone an average of a year earlier, according to a study conducted in Bulgaria.
The findings suggest that trends toward earlier puberty aren't limited to girls, who have already been shown to be developing sexually at increasingly younger ages.
In the study, reported in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, researchers from Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles compared 6,200 healthy Bulgarian boys with a similar 1970s study. Both measured height, weight, testicular volume, penis length and circumference.
"Studies done several decades ago in the same population reported that a leap forward in sexual development occurs at ages 13 through 16," Fnu Deepinder, who led the study, said in an email to Reuters Health. "However, our study indicated that this spurt takes place between 12 and 15 years old."
Deepinder said that genetic, environmental, nutritional and educational factors could all be behind the faster development today, but it remains unclear what impact earlier puberty might have on men's health.
It is also unclear whether specific differences exist between populations from different parts of the world.
The findings suggest that trends toward earlier puberty aren't limited to girls, who have already been shown to be developing sexually at increasingly younger ages.
In the study, reported in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, researchers from Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles compared 6,200 healthy Bulgarian boys with a similar 1970s study. Both measured height, weight, testicular volume, penis length and circumference.
"Studies done several decades ago in the same population reported that a leap forward in sexual development occurs at ages 13 through 16," Fnu Deepinder, who led the study, said in an email to Reuters Health. "However, our study indicated that this spurt takes place between 12 and 15 years old."
Deepinder said that genetic, environmental, nutritional and educational factors could all be behind the faster development today, but it remains unclear what impact earlier puberty might have on men's health.
It is also unclear whether specific differences exist between populations from different parts of the world.
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