Pediatria pre prax 3/2007

PHYSIOLOGY OF PUBERTY

Puberty is a period from the beginning of sexual maturation to reaching the sexual maturity. At the present the puberty starts earlier than in the last century, what can be associated with better social and economic conditions, change of eating habits and total improvement of health condition of the human population. The onset of puberty starts by hormonal changes, conditioned by genetic and ethnic factors. This results in the development of sexual glands, in girls ending by regular menstrual cycle and in boys by sperm production, development of secondary sexual signs (the growth of mammalian glands, pubic hair, changes in external genitalia), changes in maturing and growth of bones, change in the body structure and division of fat ending by the changes in psychic sphere.

Keywords: puberty, physiology of puberty, onset of puberty, symptoms of puberty.