ABSTRACT
Puberty and adolescence is a period of tremendous physical, cognitive, and social change, and perhaps a period of stress for adolescents. Whether it is actually a period of stress for most adolescents is hotly debated. As we have indicated in Chapter 2, most physiological changes are canalised and programmed genetically at birth, and this includes the changes that occur during adolescence. These changes involve important physiological differences between males and females related to average developmental rates, disposition of muscle and fat tissue, rate of skeletal ossification, overall strength and size, and sexual development (Hermanussen et al., 2001; Patton & Viner, 2007; Proos & Gustafsson, 2012). In this chapter we will examine the physical changes that occur during adolescence as well as some developmental health issues from childhood through to adolescence.
