Adolescence; It begins with the reactivation of some hormones that are active at birth and then suppressed. This period is clinically manifested by breast enlargement and increased ovarian size in men, which are the first signs of sexual development. Adolescence ends with the end of sexual development and the end of growth in height. The definition of the adolescence period is slightly different. The adolescence period begins with puberty, but continues after the growth and development of adolescence ends until the individual's psycho-social maturation occurs.
The factors that initiate or delay puberty are shown below. As can be seen in the figure, while heavy stress, heavy exercise, severe malnutrition, and chronic diseases have effects on delaying puberty; Factors such as good nutrition, high socioeconomic status, living in hot countries, and black race may cause puberty to occur earlier.
According to research conducted in our country, puberty occurs at approximately 10 years of age for girls and at the age of 10 for boys. It starts at age 11.5. It is possible to see the ages at which other puberty-related symptoms appear in the table.
During puberty, the legs are the first part to grow and complete first. In second place is hip growth in girls and chest diameter growth in boys. This is evident by the increase in shoulder width.
The rapid growth spurt reaches its peak at the age of 12 in girls and 14 in boys. During this period, girls grow approximately 9 cm per year, while boys grow approximately 10 cm per year. When girls reach the age of 14 and boys reach the age of 16, they reach approximately their adult height. They reach 98% of the age.
During adolescence; The heart, lungs, liver, spleen, pancreas, thyroid gland, adrenal glands and ovaries enlarge approximately 1 times. Tonsils, adenoids and other lymph nodes shrink.
The order of puberty development in men is; It occurs in the form of growth of the ovaries, hair growth in the pubic area, penis growth, hair growth in the armpit, hair growth around the anus and facial hair. This process is completed in approximately 3 years. One of the most important indicators of puberty in boys is deepening of the voice. It begins as a crack in the voice at about the age of 13, and approaches adult voice quality around the age of 15. The maturation of the voice continues until the end of the adolescence period.
The development of puberty in girls is as follows; It occurs in the form of ovaries, uterus, vagina development, breast growth, pubic hair growth and armpit hair growth, and then the menstrual period begins. The age at which facial acne appears in girls is approximately 13-13.5 years. It is normal for menstruations to be irregular for the first 1-1.5 years. If the age of first menstruation is before the age of 10.5, it should be seen by a pediatric endocrinologist and, if necessary, puberty-stopping drugs should be used to prevent psychosocial trauma.
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