• Question: WHY DO MALES/FEMALES IN OTHER COUNTRIES REACH PUBERTY BEFORE EG. MALES/FEMALES FROM ENGLAND?

    Asked by tinkerbell1 to Derek, Elaine, Heather, Keith, Bimpe on 19 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Heather Eyre

      Heather Eyre answered on 19 Jun 2013:

      Everybody reaches puberty at a different age, genetics and diet play really important roles in development. Social interactions can also have an effect too.

      Genetic differences tend to be maintained within sup-populations (eg. within ethnic groups) it is possible that people in one ethnic group enter puberty before another.
      And, as ethnic groups differ from country to country, along with differences in diet, this might be the reason for the differences you are mentioning, but I don’t think the differences are all that great as there seems to be less that one year variation in all well-off countries (children who are well fed).

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