Many parents believe that it is normal for children to develop early and be tall because of good nutrition nowadays. However, they do not know that these phenomena may not be a good thing. If the early growth is caused by precocious sexual maturity, it will affect the development of height and eventually cause short stature in adulthood. Normal sexual development Under normal circumstances, girls usually develop their secondary sexual characteristics, such as breast development, pubic hair growth, menstruation, etc., when they are more than ten years old. In boys, secondary sexual characteristics such as testicular development and beard growth begin to appear at the age of 12 or 13. If a girl develops breasts before the age of 8 and a boy develops testicles before the age of 9, it is considered precocious puberty. The dangers of precocious puberty Precocious puberty can cause both psychological and physical harm to children. Children may suffer from low self-esteem, fear and anxiety because they are different in size and appearance from their younger peers. Early menstruation in girls often affects their normal life and studies. Boys may develop a tendency for early love and premature sexual behavior. Although they seem to grow faster than others for a while, they use up the parts that will be grown later. The more they are ahead of schedule, the faster their height growth stops, and the shorter they will be when they grow up. How to treat precocious puberty Pseudoprecocious puberty generally does not require special treatment after diagnosis, and the symptoms will gradually subside after a period of cessation of exposure. True precocious puberty is currently treated with gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogs, which can stop the development of secondary sexual characteristics, delay the progression of bone age, and improve lifelong height. However, growth deceleration may occur during the application of this drug, and the growth rate will generally drop back to about 5 cm/year after six months of treatment. In recent years, the combination of gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogs and recombinant human growth hormone is mostly used internationally to overcome the growth deceleration problem. The vast majority of precocious puberty can be cured, but early detection and timely treatment are very important. With early detection and timely treatment, patients with precocious puberty can achieve a normal psychological state and desired adult height, and the earlier the treatment, the better the results.