Precocious puberty in children is the second most common disease after dwarfism, accounting for about 60% of the total number of patients in endocrine clinics. According to the survey, it is very common for children aged 9~10 to have menstruation in elementary school in Shenzhen. The current age of sexual maturity of our teenagers is generally 4~5 years earlier than that of the 70s, and the trend of premarital sex is low. How do you know if your child is “precocious”? Usually, girls at the age of 10-12 years old, the average age of 11 years old; boys at the age of 12-13 years old, the average age of 11.5-12 years old can appear the development of sexual signs: girls show accelerated breast development, boys show the enlargement of the penis and testicles. If your child has breast development before the age of 8 and menstruation before the age of 10, or if your child has an enlarged penis and testicles before the age of 9-9.5, or if your child suddenly grows more than 10 cm in height within a year at the age of 8-10, be alert to “precocious puberty”! Second, “precocious puberty” will lead to “dwarfism”? 1. Precocious puberty mostly leads to dwarfism! Due to the early puberty, children with precocious puberty secrete a lot of sex hormones early, although the growth is accelerated temporarily and the height is higher than that of children of the same age, but due to the stimulation of sex hormones, the bone age obviously exceeds the actual age, so that the epiphysis closes early and the growth time is shortened, so that the growth stops at the age when it should be long, which eventually leads to short. In the clinic, we often encounter girls aged 11 to 12 years old who come to the clinic because they “do not grow” for a year, and then we find that their bone age has exceeded 15 years old (i.e. the epiphysis has partially or completely closed). 2. Not all children with precocious puberty will be “short” Not all children with precocious puberty will be “short”. The children with precocious puberty will not all be “short”. For example, although a girl with pre-menarche at the age of 10 is usually 12 years old, her height is 152 cm. Even if her bone age is more than 2 years older than her actual age, the girl’s height can eventually reach 160 cm. Precocious puberty is a concern for parents: “Precocious puberty can lead to short stature”! In the clinic, we often encounter girls aged 11 to 12 who have been menstruating for a year or boys who have “changed their voices” and “grown laryngeal nodes” but are “not growing” and come to the clinic to have their bone age measured. If the bone age is more than 15 to 18 years old (i.e., the epiphysis is partially or completely closed), the boy’s height is less than 160 cm, and in some cases only about 150 cm, and the girl’s height is less than 150 cm, and in some cases even less than 140 cm, the growth is “stopped”. Premature sexual development is a concern for sociologists because early sexual development means that the child’s sexual organs are already fully developed when the child’s mind has not yet reached the appropriate level, which leads to sexual crimes among boys and adolescents, and girls who menstruate too early are often very nervous, affecting their normal life and studies. Therefore, parents, schools and even the whole society should pay attention to the problem of early sexual maturity of children. Medically, precocious puberty can be stopped by drug intervention, usually by delaying early puberty development by one to two years or even longer (i.e., puberty development starts only at a normal age). For children with precocious puberty, the earlier the treatment, the better. It is best to intervene just before puberty starts (before girls get their periods and before boys “change their voices”), and the best time for treatment may be missed if the bone age exceeds 12 years. In recent years, there are more and more children with precocious puberty, and the general feature is that urban people develop earlier than rural people. In big cities, it is common for children to start developing at the age of 7 to 8, while in rural areas, many children even 13 to 14 years old have not yet started to develop. The reason for this is thought-provoking, some phenomena analysis, leading to premature sexual maturity of children with diet, environment, drugs and even culture have a great relationship. The culprit of precocious puberty in children may be the parents who love their children so much that they use bags of various “nutrients” or “supplements” to “boost” them up! Parents, your child is not in the above situation? Will your child be short because of untimely treatment or missed treatment or “premature sexual maturity” caused by “bad supplementation”? The height of children affects their future development, and more and more parents are now concerned about this issue, but are there any misunderstandings in the treatment of your child’s short stature and precocious puberty? If you have any questions about these issues, you can leave a message online and I will reply for you when I have time, or if you need in-depth communication, you can contact me by phone. May all children grow up healthily.