What should I pay attention to during my child’s adolescent growth and development?

  With the promulgation and implementation of the basic state policy of family planning, many families have only one child. Naturally, parents are concerned about their children’s every move and every little thing that happens to them, especially their health. However, it is a common phenomenon that parents do a lot to increase their children’s nutrition, but they know little about their children’s growth and development during puberty, thinking that their children’s growth and development should be a natural and natural thing. In fact, for many reasons, many children have abnormalities at various stages of growth and development, which can leave children with lifelong regrets if not detected and treated in time.  Adolescence is the second peak of child development and is characterized by rapid development of the first and second sex characteristics (gonads and genitals) and the acceleration of physical development, as well as by corresponding changes in psychological and behavioral aspects. This is the period of sexual maturity and growth of the body with the ability to reproduce, which lasts on average 5-6 years. There are individual differences in the age at which puberty begins. It is generally accepted that puberty starts at the age of 10-14 years (average 12.5 years) in boys and at the age of 9-13 years (average 11.5 years) in girls. With the increasing maturation and refinement of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, the body secretes sex hormones cyclically, causing gonadal and genital development. In boys, the first thing to appear is the enlargement of the testes, which is generally considered to be >2.5 cm in length or >1 ml in volume to mark the onset of puberty.  In girls the earliest thing that can be noticed is often the beginning of mammary gland development, i.e., slightly enlarged and elevated breasts and nipples. While the growth rate grows rapidly, the secondary sexual characteristics gradually appear: in boys, the voice tone becomes lower, the laryngeal nodes protrude, the beard grows, the axillary hair and pubic hair develop muscularly, and the characteristic male smell appears; in girls, the mammary glands gradually develop, the areola begins to increase, the nipples protrude, the pelvis becomes larger, the subcutaneous fat thickens, the axillary hair and pubic hair grow one after another, and the characteristic female smell appears. The end of puberty is marked by the maturation of male reproductive organs, healing of epiphysis and cessation of growth, while the onset of menstruation often means the end of female puberty. It is worth mentioning that the development of skeletal development is basically synchronized with sexual development, and the advancement or delay of bone age reflects the status of sexual development.  A. About precocious sexual maturity It is generally considered that girls with breast development, pubic hair, axillary hair growth, labia majora and labia minora enlargement, menstruation before the age of 8 (50% before the age of 6) or boys with obvious development of genital organs and secondary sexual characteristics before the age of 9 are considered precocious sexual maturity.  Precocious puberty can bring a series of problems: 1) psychological pressure on the child and parents; 2) the child’s sexual organs are mature, and the child can think like children of the same age and find it difficult to take care of himself; 3) the body’s growth spurt comes early, the bone age is early, the epiphysis closes early, and the body is taller than its peers in childhood, but shorter than its peers in adulthood.  Precocious puberty can be divided into central (also known as true) and peripheral (also known as pseudo), the former due to hypothalamic-pituitary lesions, the latter caused by estrogen or androgen abnormalities (such as drugs or hormone-containing foods). In boys, about 70-80% are organic, i.e., lesions can be found to exist (e.g., central nervous system tumors), and only a small percentage cannot find the cause; in girls, 80-90% are idiopathic and 10-20% are organic. Once the above situation occurs, it is necessary to go to the hospital in time to check sex hormones, bone age, ultrasound (testes or breast, uterus, ovaries), pituitary MRI to find the cause, to clarify the presence of organic lesions of hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal system, and to treat early if necessary, if there is no organic lesion, part of them can be treated with gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor agonists to delay sexual development and obtain a satisfactory final height.  In general, it is considered that girls are still without breast development at the age of 13 and menstruation at the age of 16, while boys are still without any pubertal development over the age of 14. The causes can be classified as somatic pubertal growth delay, hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (due to testicular or ovarian lesions), and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (due to hypothalamic-pituitary lesions). Most of the delayed puberty is associated with high psychological stress and reproductive dysfunction of the affected child and parents. It is important to note that most boys with delayed puberty are somatic, i.e. there is no organic pathology, except for the late onset of puberty, and the process is no different from that of normal people, and there is a family history. If these problems occur, it is necessary to go to the hospital as soon as possible and have sex hormones, bone age, ultrasound (testes or breast, uterus, ovaries), CT of the adrenal glands, and MRI of the pituitary gland examined to exclude organic pathology, and if necessary, sex hormone replacement therapy to maintain nearly normal growth and development.