Expert: John Locke - 8/6/2009

Question
Hi,
I have been told puberty ends at 16 but other people have said it ends at 18. I began puberty when i was 12 so, have i finished puberty? I have pretty much stopped growing in height but my body is still developing and going through changes.

Thanks,
Alice

Answer
Thanks for using AllExperts. There is no set age at which puberty completes; it depends both on when it begins (since a later start may mean a later completion) and individual biology: not everyone experiences puberty at the same rate. It also depends on what criterion you're using for the completion of puberty--growing to your maximum adult height, being fertile, other body development, etc. In girls, maximum height is attained (on average) by age 15, if that's the criterion you're looking for. Potential fertility usually occurs 1-2 years before maximum height is reached. Ovarian development continues for years after maximum height is reached, so in that sense full reproductive development doesn't end for women until sometime in their 20s.

It's important to recognize that the onset of puberty is controlled not by age, but by weight: the body does not begin to produce the hormones that cause the onset of puberty until a certain body mass is reached--approximately 47kg for girls and 55kg for boys. Young people who remain below that weight limit will not experience puberty until they gain weight. The average age of onset for puberty in the West is approximately ~12 years for females, though there is a clear variation. For example, it occurs earliest in African American girls (up to 48% show signs of puberty by age 9) and latest for high-altitude populations in Asia.

In short, the fact that you have stopped growing but continue to experience the other body changes associated with puberty is not at all unusual. It is not really possible to say that you have "finished" puberty, in that sense, because of the difficulty in defining an end point.