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Document Type

Article

Abstract

The occurrence of menarche, the development of the breast, pubic hair and axillary hair were investigated in 1,304 South Indian girls belonging to high, middle and low socioeconomic groups. The mean ages at which these traits of sexual maturation occurred were calculated separately for high, middle and low socioeconomic groups. The mean ages respectively are first sign of breast development, 10.25, 10.80 and 10.00 years; first appearance of the pubic hair, 10.50, 11.17, 10.28 years; menarche, 13.11, 13.27 and 13.35 years; and first appearance of axillary hair, 13.23, 13.60 and 13.78 years.The differences between these means of the three socioeconomic groups are significant, as shown by ‘t’ tests. Generally speaking, the breast develops 2.70 years before menarche, the pubic hair appears 2.33 years before men­arche, and the axillary hair emerges 0.37 years after menarche. The devel­opment of the breast and of the pubic hair were assessed according to the four-stage and the five-stage scores respectively and the mean stages were calculated for both traits in each age group. Both the breast and the pubic hair showed steady advancement in the mean stages with age up to 17 years. When the girls of each age group were divided into groups according to whether they had or had not menstruated, the mean stages of both the breast and pubic hair development were always higher among girls who had menstruated.

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