Boys Reach Sexual Maturity Younger and Younger

[n2doc]

ScienceDaily (Aug. 19, 2011) — Boys are maturing physically earlier than ever before. The age of sexual maturity has been decreasing by about 2.5 months each decade at least since the middle of the 18th century. Joshua Goldstein, director of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock (MPIDR), has used mortality data to demonstrate this trend, which until now was difficult to decipher. What had already been established for girls now seems to also be true for boys: the time period during which young people are sexually mature but socially not yet considered adults is expanding.

"The reason for earlier maturity for boys, as with girls, is probably because nutrition and disease environments are getting more favourable for it," says demographer Joshua Goldstein. It has long been documented by medical records that girls are experiencing their first menstruation earlier and earlier. But comparable data analysis for boys did not exist. Goldstein resolved this gap by studying demographic data related to mortality. When male hormone production during puberty reaches a maximum level the probability of dying jumps up. This phenomenon, called the "accident hump," exists in almost all societies and is statistically well documented.

Goldstein discovered that the maximum mortality value of the accident hump shifted to earlier age by 2.5 months for each decade since the mid-1700s, or just over two years per century. Accordingly, the age of boys' sexual maturity decreased at the same rate. Essentially, the data showed that the age of sexual maturity is getting younger and younger since the accident hump is occurring earlier and earlier. (Research included data for Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Great Britain and Italy. Since 1950 the data is no longer clear but indicates stagnation.) The maximum of the accident hump occurs in the late phase of puberty, after males reach reproductive capability and their voice changes.

When boys get physically mature they take more risks and the risk of death increases

The accident hump, which also exists among male apes, occurs because young men participate in particularly risky behaviour when the release of the hormone testosterone reaches its maximum. Dangerous and reckless shows of strength, negligence, and a high propensity to violence lead to an increased number of fatal accidents. The probability remains low, but the rate jumps up considerably (see graphic).

Fatal Recklessness: With production of male hormones in puberty at its highest level, the probability for a boy in the United States to die in the year 2007 rose from 2 out of 10,000 at age 13 to more then the sevenfold at age 21 (i.e. 15 out of 10,000). (Credit: © MPIDR, Human Mortality Database / www.mortality.org)

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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110818101714.htm

[Love Bug]

1. Interesting.

Someone should plot the ages of past Darwin Award winners and compare it with the Accident Hump one. Could be revealing...

[Name removed]

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[LeftishBrit]

3. This is about physical maturation - could not be caused by early sex education!

[Name removed]

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[mzteris]

6. good days??

"a game to get in the girls pants"...

hmmmmmmmmmm............. are you sure you've found the right group here?

[laconicsax]

7. Seems they were a bit confused about what site they were on...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=user_profiles&u_id=274628

[mzteris]

8. I thought so...

what is wrong with those people?!?

[laconicsax]

9. Where to start...

[Odin2005]

10. IMO this is a side effect of the obesity epidemic.

Back in the day when most people were just one bad harvest away from famine women had their first period at 16.

[Lex]

11. It's been steadily happening since the mid-1700's

so it's most likely access to better nutrition. The obesity epidemic is a relatively recent phenomenon.

"sexual maturity has been decreasing by about 2.5 months each decade at least since the middle of the 18th century" (from the article)

[NickB79]

12. I'd find a better name for it than "accident hump"

:rofl: