 Each teenager has to go through several physical changes; it is so called process of reaching the age of puberty. It is the period of time when children begin to mature biologically, psychologically, cognitively and socially. Boys begin to grow into men and girls into women. This process can take one or even six years.
Child’s body takes on characteristics that define it sexually. Both males and females bodies will take on a different shape. In its turn puberty leads to adolescence.
Adolescence is an intermediate period between childhood and adulthood. The changes of adolescence occur at different times according to a unique internal person’s calendar. Sometimes adolescence can be very difficult period in teen’s life. You are no longer a child, but you are not an adult yet either.
What Causes Physical Changes?
The answer is very simple: hormones cause these physical changes. The brain knows when the body is ready for sexual maturity. It produces chemicals called hormones. Certain hormones are responsible for certain changes in your body. The brain and pituitary gland produce hormones that control the reproductive organs of both males and females. These hormones stimulate the growth of the ovaries of girls to release other hormones called estrogen and progesterone, and the testes of boys to release testosterone.
Hormones also make the body grow larger, sometimes very quickly. Internal body organs get larger and lower and upper extremities get longer. Your body is experiencing a major surge of growth. It lasts about two or three years.
When this growth period is over you will be at your adult height. Within the process of growth in height your body will also change in other ways. You will put on weight, and your overall shape will change. Boys’ bodies will become more muscular, their shoulders will widen, their genitals will enlarge, and their voice will become deeper. All these changes signify that the body is developing correctly during puberty.
Girls tend to put on weight especially on their hips, and their breasts enlarge in size. During this period girls usually become curvier. They often will notice an increase in overall body fat. After one or two years after girl’s breasts begin to develop they will experience their first menstrual period.
Boys begin to feel their growth from the age of twelve up to seventeen years old. They will notice their shoulders broaden, the muscles strengthen and the genitals develop and begin to cover with pubic hair. The larynx lengthens and the voice “breaks” on its way to becoming deeper. Spontaneous erections and nocturnal emissions of sperm begin to occur. This is also a sign of sexual maturity.
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