CONTENTS

         Chapters
  1. Growing Numbers, Diverse Needs
  2. Growth, Change, and Risk
  3. Programs for Young Adults
  4. Evaluation Findings
  5. Winning Support from the Community and Young Adults

HIGHLIGHTS

Included with this issue: Population Reports is published by the Population Information Program, Center for Communication Programs, The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, 111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, Maryland 21202-4012, USA


Volume XXIII, Number 3
October, 1995

Falling Age at Puberty

Boys and girls now experience puberty at younger ages than previous generations. In general, girls enter puberty between ages 8 and 13 and reach menarche (first menstruation) several years later, while boys enter puberty between ages 9 and 14 (436, 529). The reasons for earlier menarche in girls are not well understood. Most of the change is attributed to better health and nutrition (160, 185, 529). In North America age at menarche decreased by three to four months each decade after 1850; in 1988 the median age at menarche was 12.5 years among US girls (160, 529). In some developing countries age at menarche appears to be decreasing even faster. For example, in Kenya average age at menarche fell from 14.4 in the late 1970s to 12.9 in the 1980s (185).

During puberty boys and girls go through some of the greatest physical changes of their lives. Their bodies grow faster than during any other period of life except infancy (66, 201, 471, 537). Secondary sex characteristics develop during a hormonally driven growth spurt. These dramatic physical changes generally occur over a 5-year period but may take as little as 18 months or as long as six years (35, 66, 201, 281). A group of 14-year-olds may include boys and girls who still look like children as well as some whose bodies are those of adult men or women (114).

Like biological development, emotional maturity and cognitive development vary greatly among young people of the same age. Although they are beginning to develop the ability to think abstractly and to plan for the future, most young adults reach sexual maturity before they attain emotional or social maturity or economic independence. Many decision-making models have tried to explain young adults' sexual activity and decision-making. None, however, has succeeded in explaining definitively how to influence behavior (258, 290). The fields of sociology and psychology conventionally have viewed adolescent sexuality within the framework of deviant behavior (290). Thus there has been little focus on what is normal, healthy sexual development and behavior for young people. Recent work points out the need to take into account the context of young adults' sexual activity, as well as the social pressures and psychological costs associated with abstaining from sex or engaging in it, and with using or not using contraceptives if sexually active (51, 59, 402, 416).

Clearly, as they enter puberty, boys' and girls' interest in sex increases. At the same time, they experience strong, often conflicting emotions and social pressures as they move away from childhood dependence toward more independent adulthood. Most are unprepared for the situations they face. Nonetheless, because of the health risks of sexual activity, young people's decisions and experiences during their transition to adulthood can affect the rest of their lives.


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