Delayed Puberty

What It Is
Puberty usually occurs between the ages of 7 and 13 for girls, and between the ages of
9 and 15 for boys
Delayed puberty is when people pass the normal age range for puberty without showing
any signs of body changes
Clinically defined as the absence or incomplete development of secondary sexual
characteristics bounded by an age at which 95 percent of children of that sex and culture
have initiated sexual maturation
Not growing and developing physically as quickly as his or her peers
Constitutional delay of growth and puberty
Boys: lack of increase in testicle size by the age of 14
Girls: lack of breast development by the age of 13

Who It Can Affect
Both girls and boys
Somebody who has a parent who was late in starting puberty
Somebody who has an underlying medical condition e.g. diabetes, kidney disease,
cystic fibrosis
Somebody who is malnourished
Girls who are extremely active in sports
Somebody who has problems in the pituitary or thyroid glands
Somebody who has chromosome disorder

Treatment
Hormone therapy - short course (usually a few months) of treatment with hormone
medications to get the changes of puberty started
Short course of an anabolic steroid increase growth
Giving testosterone to boys or a short course of oestrogen to girls - induce puberty

Finding Support
KidsHealth -
http://kidshealth.org/teen/sexual_health/changing_body/delayed_puberty.html
Boston Childrens Hospital - http://www.childrenshospital.org/health-
topics/conditions/delayed-puberty-delayed-sexual-development
Australian Paediatric Endocrine Group (APEG) -
http://www.apeg.org.au/Portals/0/Resources/Hormones_and_Me_6_Delayed_Puberty.p
df
Society of Endocrinology -
http://www.yourhormones.info/endocrine_conditions/delayed_puberty.aspx