Recent data on pubertal milestones in United States children: the secular trend toward earlier development
Abstract
Tracking secular trends in the pubertal development of a country's children is important for social and public health reasons. Although comparable studies are largely lacking for US children over the last half century, existing data on girls, particularly that for menarche, indicate that the trend for earlier sexual maturatin has continued and that racial differences are significant, with African-American girls developing earlier than white girls. Data on boys, though less reliable, suggest that they may be beginning maturation earlier as well. More studies on boys with reliable methodologies are needed. Earlier development may not be healthy and may indicate environmental problems that need to be further researched and addressed.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Pubertal onset is occurring earlier in developed nations, particularly in unserved populations.
“Pubertal onset is also occurring earlier in developed nations, particularly in unserved populations”
From Does puberty mark a transition in sensitive periods for plasticity in the associative neocortex? (2017) · cites this paper as Herman-Giddens, 2006
Over the last decades, the average age at puberty onset in girls has advanced by multiple years.
“Over the last decades, the average age at puberty onset in girls has advanced by multiple years”
From Does puberty mark a transition in sensitive periods for plasticity in the associative neocortex? (2017) · cites this paper as Herman-Giddens, 2006
In North American boys and girls, earlier maturation is more common in black, Hispanic and low socioeconomic status children.
“In North American boys and girls, earlier maturation is more common in black, Hispanic and low socioeconomic status children”
From Does puberty mark a transition in sensitive periods for plasticity in the associative neocortex? (2017) · cites this paper as Herman-Giddens, 2006
Cites
Variations in pattern of pubertal changes in girls
Marshall, W. A., & Tanner, J. M. (1969) · Archives of Disease in Childhood · doi:10.1136/adc.44.235.291 · Cited by 5,963 · see citing works
Variations in the pattern of pubertal changes in boys
Marshall, W. A., & Tanner, J. M. (1970) · Archives of Disease in Childhood · doi:10.1136/adc.45.239.13 · Cited by 5,147 · see citing works
Herman-Giddens, M. E., Slora, E. J., Wasserman, R. C., Bourdony, C. J., Bhapkar, M. V., Koch, G. G., & Hasemeier, C. M. (1997) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.99.4.505 · Cited by 1,709 · see citing works
Self-citationEarlier Onset of Puberty in Girls: Relation to Increased Body Mass Index and Race
Kaplowitz, P. B., Slora, E. J., Wasserman, R. C., Pedlow, S. E., & Herman‐Giddens, M. E. (2001) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.108.2.347 · Cited by 745 · see citing works
Self-citationAge at menarche and racial comparisons in US girls
Chumlea, W. C., Schubert, C. M., Roche, A. F., Kulin, H. E., Lee, P. A., Himes, J. H., & Sun, S. S. (2003) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.111.1.110 · Cited by 685 · see citing works
Wang, Y. (2002) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.110.5.903 · Cited by 663 · see citing works
National Estimates of the Timing of Sexual Maturation and Racial Differences Among US Children
Sun, S. S., Schubert, C. M., Chumlea, W. C., Roche, A. F., Kulin, H. E., Lee, P. A., Himes, J. H., & Ryan, A. S. (2002) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.110.5.911 · Cited by 544 · see citing works
Anderson, S. E., Dallal, G. E., & Must, A. (2003) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.111.4.844 · Cited by 485 · see citing works
Kaplowitz, P. B., & Oberfield, S. E. (1999) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.104.4.936 · Cited by 475 · see citing works
Wu, T., Mendola, P., & Buck, G. M. (2002) · Pediatrics · doi:10.1542/peds.110.4.752 · Cited by 394 · see citing works
Freedman, D. S., Khan, L. K., Serdula, M. K., Dietz, W. H., Srinivasan, S. R., & Berenson, G. S. (2002) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.110.4.e43 · Cited by 341 · see citing works
Normal ages of pubertal events among American males and females
Lee, P. A. (1980) · Journal of Adolescent Health Care · doi:10.1016/s0197-0070(80)80005-2 · Cited by 228 · see citing works
Biro, F. M., Lucky, A. W., Huster, G. A., & Morrison, J. A. (1995) · The Journal of Pediatrics · doi:10.1016/s0022-3476(95)70265-2 · Cited by 208 · see citing works
Secondary sex characteristics of girls 12 to 17 years of age: The U.S. Health examination survey
Daniel, W. A., Harlan, W. R., Harland, E. A., & Grillo, G. P. (1980) · The Journal of Pediatrics · doi:10.1016/s0022-3476(80)80647-0 · Cited by 203 · see citing works
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN PHYSICAL CHANGES ASSOCIATED WITH ADOLESCENCE IN GIRLS
Reynolds, E. L. (1948) · Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine · doi:10.1001/archpedi.1948.02030020341006 · Cited by 194 · see citing works
Foster, T., Voors, A. W., Webber, L., Frerichs, R. R., & Berenson, G. (1977) · American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1093/ajcn/30.4.582 · Cited by 169 · see citing works
Karpati, A. M., Rubin, C., Kieszak, S. M., Marcus, M., & Troiano, R. P. (2002) · Journal of Adolescent Health · doi:10.1016/s1054-139x(01)00320-2 · Cited by 133 · see citing works
PHYSICAL CHANGES ASSOCIATED WITH ADOLESCENCE IN BOYS
Reynolds, E. L. (1951) · Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine · doi:10.1001/archpedi.1951.02040040549002 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Herman‐Giddens, M. E., Kaplowitz, P. B., & Wasserman, R. C. (2004) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.113.4.911 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Self-citationSecondary sex characteristics of boys 12 to 17 years of age: The U.S. Health Examination Survey
Harlan, W. R., Grillo, G. P., Cornoni‐Huntley, J. C., & Leaverton, P. E. (1979) · The Journal of Pediatrics · doi:10.1016/s0022-3476(79)80677-0 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Biomarkers for assessing reproductive development and health: Part 1--Pubertal development.
Rockett, J. C., Lynch, C. D.-J., & Louis, G. M. B. (2003) · Environmental Health Perspectives · doi:10.1289/ehp.6265 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Age at Menarche. United States.
MacMahon, B. (1974) · Annals of Internal Medicine · doi:10.7326/0003-4819-81-2-287_1 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Management of the suicidal adolescent on a nonpsychiatric adolescent unit
Marks, A. M. (1979) · The Journal of Pediatrics · doi:10.1016/s0022-3476(79)80679-4 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Sexual maturation of Mexican‐American adolescents
Villarreal, S. F., Martorell, R., & Mendoza, F. (1989) · American Journal of Human Biology · doi:10.1002/ajhb.1310010113 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Black-white differences in serum lipoproteins during sexual maturation: The Bogalusa Heart Study
Freedman, D. S., Srinivasan, S. R., Webber, L. S., et al. (1987) · Journal of Chronic Diseases · doi:10.1016/0021-9681(87)90046-4 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Sexual growth of Negro and white boys.
Ramsey, G. V. (1950) · PubMed · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Herman-Giddens, M. E., Wang, L., & Koch, G. (2001) · Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine · doi:10.1001/archpedi.155.9.1022 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-citationSecular Trends in Height Among Children During 2 Decades
Freedman, D. S., Khan, L. K., Serdula, M. K., et al. (2000) · Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine · doi:10.1001/archpedi.154.2.155 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Examination of US puberty-timing data from 1940 to 1994 for secular trends: panel findings
Euling, S. Y., Herman-Giddens, M. E., Lee, P. A., Selevan, S. G., Juul, A., SØrensen, T. I. A., Dunkel, L., Himes, J. H., Teilmann, G., & Swan, S. H. (2008) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.2007-1813d · Cited by 662 · see citing works
Self-citationRecent changes in pubertal timing in healthy danish boys: associations with body mass index
Sørensen, K., Aksglaede, L., Petersen, J. H., & Juul, A. (2010) · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · doi:10.1210/jc.2009-1478 · Cited by 393 · see citing works
Sørensen, K., Mouritsen, A., Aksglaede, L., Hagen, C. P., Mogensen, S. S., & Juul, A. (2012) · Hormone Research in Paediatrics · doi:10.1159/000336325 · Cited by 386 · see citing works
Does puberty mark a transition in sensitive periods for plasticity in the associative neocortex?
Piekarski, D. J., Johnson, C. M., Boivin, J. R., Thomas, A. W., Lin, W. C., Delevich, K., M. Galarce, E., & Wilbrecht, L. (2017) · Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2016.08.042 · Cited by 175 · see citing works
Silk, J. S., Siegle, G. J., Whalen, D. J., Ostapenko, L. J., Ladouceur, C. D., & Dahl, R. E. (2009) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s0954579409000029 · Cited by 127 · see citing works
Alloy, L. B., Hamilton, J. L., Hamlat, E. J., & Abramson, L. Y. (2016) · Clinical Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/2167702616643008 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Adults at 12? Trends in puberty and their public health consequences: Figure 1
Bellis, M. A., Downing, J., & Ashton, J. R. (2006) · Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health · doi:10.1136/jech.2006.049379 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Shanahan, L., Calkins, S. D., Keane, S. P., Kelleher, R., & Suffness, R. (2014) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s0954579414001072 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Hamlat, E. J., Shapero, B. G., Hamilton, J. L., Stange, J. P., Abramson, L. Y., & Alloy, L. B. (2015) · The Journal of Early Adolescence · doi:10.1177/0272431614534071 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Silk, J. S., Price, R. B., Rosen, D., Ryan, N. D., Forbes, E. E., Siegle, G. J., Dahl, R. E., McMakin, D. L., Kendall, P. C., & Ladouceur, C. D. (2019) · Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2018.10.012 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Isoflavones and their effects on the onset of puberty in male Wistar rats
Caceres, S., Peña, L., Moyano, G., Martinez-Fernandez, L., Monsalve, B., Illera, M. J., Millan, P., Illera, J. C., & Silvan, G. (2015) · Andrologia · doi:10.1111/and.12394 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
- Authors
- HERMAN‐GIDDENS, M. E.
- Affiliations
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- Corresponding author
- HERMAN‐GIDDENS, MARCIA E.
- Venue
- International Journal of Andrology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2006-02
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 241-246
- ISSN
- 0105-6263 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2605
- OpenAlex
- W2133638935
- Cited by
- 226
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 9.82
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Journal of Andrology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Maternal and Child Health Bureau
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Hypothalamic control of reproductive hormones
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Human Health and Disease
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
- Keywords
- pubertal development, secular trends, menarche, sexual maturation, boys, racial differences, African American girls, American children, environmental factors
- MeSH terms
- Black or African American, Child, Female, Humans, Male, Menarche, Puberty, Puberty, Precocious, Retrospective Studies, Sex Characteristics, Sex Factors, Sexual Maturation, United States, Black People, White People
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
