Puberty

Puberty refers to the process of physical changes by which a child's body becomes an adult body capable of reproduction. Growth accelerates in the first half of puberty and reaches completion by the end. Body differences between boys and girls before puberty are almost entirely restricted to the genitalia. During puberty, major differences of size, shape, composition, and function develop in many body structures and systems. The most obvious of these are referred to as secondary sexual characteristics. In a strict sense, the term puberty (and this article) refer to the bodily changes of sexual maturation rather than the psychosocial and cultural aspects of adolescent development.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Adolescence is the period of psychological and social transition between childhood and adulthood. Adolescence largely overlaps the period of puberty but its boundaries are less precisely defined and it refers as much to the psychosocial and cultural characteristics of development during the teen years as to the physical changes of puberty.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Child: A child (plural: children) is a young human. Depending on context it may mean someone who is not yet an adult, or someone who has not yet reached puberty (someone who is prepubescent)....

Body: With regard to living things, a body is the integral physical material of an individual, and contrasts with soul, personality and behavior....

Adult: :: For the techno remix duo, see ADULT....