Herman-Giddens Marcia E
Department of Maternal and Child Health, University of North Carolina School of Public Health, Chapel Hill, 27312, USA.
Int J Androl. 2006 Feb;29(1):241-6; discussion 286-90. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2605.2005.00575.x.
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.
出于社会和公共卫生原因，追踪一个国家儿童青春期发育的长期趋势很重要。尽管在过去半个世纪里，美国儿童大多缺乏可比研究，但现有关于女孩的数据，尤其是初潮数据，表明性早熟趋势仍在持续，且种族差异显著，非裔美国女孩比白人女孩发育更早。关于男孩的数据虽然不太可靠，但表明他们可能也开始更早成熟。需要采用可靠方法对男孩进行更多研究。过早发育可能不健康，可能预示着需要进一步研究和解决的环境问题。
