The regulation of pubertal growth.

To understand the regulation of pubertal growth, it is important to understand the present concept of the control of the onset of puberty, the change in secretion of sex steroids during puberty, and the effects of these various factors upon the production and action of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF). Nutrition plays a major role in this process because states of aberrant nutrition severely affect pubertal growth. In this article, all of these concepts will be discussed, including the effect of these factors upon bone growth during the increase in stature accomplished during puberty.