Precocious Puberty - Clinical and Social Significance

Clinical and Social Significance

Medical evaluation is sometimes necessary to recognize the few children with serious conditions from the majority who have entered puberty early but are still medically normal. Early sexual development warrants evaluation because it may:

1. induce early bone maturation and reduce eventual adult height
2. indicate the presence of a tumor or other serious problem
3. cause the child, particularly a girl, to become an object of adult sexual interest

Early puberty is believed to put girls at higher risk of sexual abuse, unrelated to pedophilia because the child has developed secondary sex characteristics. Early puberty also puts girls at a higher risk for teasing or bullying, mental health disorders and short stature as adults." Helping children control their weight is suggested to help delay puberty. Early puberty additionally puts girls at a "far greater" risk for breast cancer later in life. Girls as young as 8 are increasingly starting to menstruate, develop breasts and grow pubic and underarm hair; these "biological milestones" only typically occurred at 13 or older decades ago. Females of African ancestry are especially prone to early puberty. There are theories debating the trend of early puberty, but the exact causes are not known.

Though boys face fewer problems upon early puberty than girls, early puberty is not always positive for boys; early sexual maturation in boys can be accompanied by increased aggressiveness due to the surge of hormones that affect them. Because they appear older than their peers, pubescent boys may face increased social pressure to conform to adult norms; society may view them as more emotionally advanced, despite the fact that their cognitive and social development may lag behind their appearance. Studies have shown that early maturing boys are more likely to be sexually active and are more likely to participate in risky behaviors.