puberty

  • Menarche → Girl’s first period

  • Spermarche → Boy’s first ejaculation

Sex maturation

  • Primary sex characteristics

    • Parts of the body directly involved in reproduction

      • Testes, ovaries

  • Secondary sex characteristics

    • Not necessary for reproduction

      • Odor, acne, hair, voice, etc

Age of Puberty

  • 11 or 12 is the most likely age of visible onset

  • Rise in hormone levels signals that puberty is normal in those as young as 8 or as old as 14

  • Body fat influences the onset of puberty

    • Girls must weigh at least 100 pounds before experiencing first period

    • Globally, urban children are more often overfed and under-exercised than rural children

  • Girls

    • Early-maturing girls tend to have lower self-esteem, more depression, and poorer body image than later-maturing girls

    • May also be attracted to older boyfriends and enter into abusive relationships more often than other girls

  • Boys

    • Early-maturing boys are more aggressive, law-breaking and alcohol-abusing than later-maturing

    • Slow developing boys tend to be more anxious, depressed, and afraid of sex

Health During Adolescence

  • VERY healthy age period

    • Problem-free reproduction

    • Peak athletic performance

    • High energy and and endurance

    • Body systems function at an optimal level

    • Death by disease is rare

  • Diet Deficiencies    

    • Many adolescents are deficient in their intake of necessary vitamins/minerals

      • Can include iron, calcium, zinc, and other minerals

    • Results from the food choices that young adolescents are allowed or enticed to make

Body Image

  • Many nations have an ideal body image type and facial appearance as tall, thin, and Anglo-Saxon

  • Anorexia Nervosa

    • Eating disorder characterized by self-starvation

    • Affected individuals voluntarily undereat and often over-exercise, depriving their vital organs of nutrition

    • Can be fatal

  • Bulimia Nervosa

    • ED that is characterized by binge eating and purging, usually by induced vomiting and/or laxatives

  • Eating Disorders can be caused by…

    • Cultural image

    • Stress

    • Puberty

    • Hormones

    • Childhood patterns

Sexual Activity

  • In the US…

    • 25% of teens by age 15 have had sexual intercourse

    • 50% by age 17

    • 90% by age 21

  • Culture influences how sexually active a teen may be

  • Decreased teen births in every nation

  • Rise in use of protection

  • Decrease in teen abortion rate

  • Early sex correlates with depression and drug abuse

  • Increased complexity and expense are related to parenting

  • More common and dangerous STIs