Some subgroups of children with precocious puberty-such as older girls with slowly progressing puberty-may not need the same level of testing or treatment, according to a new Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline released today.<\/p>\n
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Children who start puberty\u00a0earlier than usual should be carefully evaluated so they receive the right care at the right time-without unnecessary tests or treatment. The Endocrine Society’s guideline gives clinicians evidence-based suggestions to identify central precocious puberty, understand its causes and decide when and what treatment is appropriate.”<\/p>\n
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Ana Claudia Latronico, M.D., Ph.D., guideline’s writing group chair,\u00a0University of S\u00e3o Paulo in S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil<\/p>\n
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Central precocious puberty happens when a child’s brain activates puberty-related hormones too early-before age 8\u00a0years\u00a0in girls and before age 9\u00a0years\u00a0in boys. This early hormone signaling triggers physical changes such as breast development in girls, testicular enlargement in boys, rapid growth, and, in some cases, early menstruation.<\/p>\n
Early puberty can affect a child’s adult height and is associated with long-term physical and emotional health risks, including psychosocial stress, heart\u00a0disease,\u00a0and some\u00a0cancers\u00a0later in life.<\/p>\n
According to the\u00a0guideline authors, puberty-pausing medication, which temporarily pauses the brain signals that start puberty, can be an effective treatment and has the potential to increase adult height as well as improve psychosocial and long-term health outcomes among children with early puberty.<\/p>\n
“Some subgroups of children may not need the same level of testing or treatment. For example,\u00a0older\u00a0girls with slowly progressing\u00a0precocious\u00a0puberty often have normal adult height without intervention,” said the guideline’s writing group co-chair Stephanie Roberts, M.D., of Boston Children’s Hospital in Boston, Mass. “We\u00a0give clinicians suggestions that avoid unnecessary or invasive testing and treatment, such as sometimes initially using a period of observation by their health care provider, using simpler testing methods and individualizing treatment when\u00a0indicated.”<\/p>\n
Suggestions from the guideline include:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Other members of the Endocrine Society writing committee that developed this guideline include:\u00a0Morgan Alonzo\u00a0of Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora, Colo.;\u00a0Jes\u00fas Argente\u00a0of\u00a0Ni\u00f1o Jes\u00fas University Children’s Hospital,\u00a0the\u00a0Autonomous University of Madrid,\u00a0the Spanish Biomedical Research Centre in Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition\u00a0(CIBEROBN), Carlos III Health Institute, IMDEA Food Institute, and CEIUAM+CSI\u00a0in Madrid, Spain;\u00a0Ana Pinheiro Machado Canton\u00a0of the University of S\u00e3o Paulo;\u00a0Jean-Claude Carel\u00a0of Paris Cit\u00e9 University in Paris, France;\u00a0Fernando Cassorla\u00a0of the University of Chile in Santiago, Chile;\u00a0Evangelia\u00a0Charmandari\u00a0of Athens Medical School in Athens, Greece;\u00a0Erica Eugster\u00a0of Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, Ind.;\u00a0Anna Grandone\u00a0of\u00a0the University of Campania, Luigi Vanvitelli, Vico L. De\u00a0Crecchio\u00a0in Naples, Italy;\u00a0Louise C. Greenspan\u00a0of San Francisco Medical Center in San Francisco, Calif.;\u00a0Elizabeth\u00a0Hawse\u00a0of Commonwealth Pediatrics in Lexington, K.Y.;\u00a0Anders Juul\u00a0of the University of Copenhagen in Copenhagen, Denmark;\u00a0Paul Kaplowitz\u00a0of Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C.;\u00a0M. Hassan Murad\u00a0of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.;\u00a0Maria Street\u00a0of the University Hospital of Parma in Parma, Italy;\u00a0Vayana\u00a0Walker\u00a0of the Community Health Network in Indianapolis, Ind.; and\u00a0Christopher McCartney\u00a0of West Virginia University in Morgantown, W.V.<\/p>\n
“Central Precocious Puberty: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline,”\u00a0was published online and is being\u00a0presented Saturday\u00a0at ENDO 2026, the Society’s annual meeting.<\/p>\n
The guideline will appear in the\u00a0September\u00a0print issue of\u00a0The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism\u00a0(JCEM), a publication of the Endocrine Society.<\/p>\n
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