Anonymous wrote:OP, you're probably Asian American, or at least I hope you are, but this makes me uncomfortable. It may be a totally innocent question, but it certainly plays into stereotypes of Asian men as feminine or childlike. And obviously (??) Asian ethnicities are very very diverse.

Typical Democratic

I am Asian-American and started puberty at about 12.5. My mother, who had grown up in a war-torn asian country, FREAKED out. She and her sisters had not started until 15-16. Of course, to our eyes/standards, they looked and were very undernourished. So diet plays a huge role, fat especially. So it could depend on generation or perhaps, in the case of an immigrant/adopted child who might have spent a number of years first living outside the U.S. and potentially in a deprived situation, it might have a little lagging effect. But among the adopted Asian heritage kids I know they have fallen more into typical U.S. patterns after a couple years on an American diet (for good or ill!)

I have two EA boys 15 & 13 who eat very American diet, and they’ve always been early growers in terms of height but a year or two later many of their non Asian peers caught up with or surpass them. They both had voices changes earlier than many others, and the 15-yo, albeit quite slim, is at least two years into puberty and will probably be done soon if not already. 13-yo is also well into puberty and was earlier than his brother, but he’s also heavy so that may be more of a factor.

Not sure what conclusion you could draw from them but feel free to share your concerns.

I’m reading the new book Decoding Boys, and she mentions research on age of puberty. For girls and boys there is a racial difference - blacks kids a little younger, Asian kids a little older, Hispanic and white kids in the middle. And the variance is only about a year spread - noticeable in big data sets but not in individual kids really. My white boy started at 11, so early.

Depend on the individual even within family

Some research suggests obesity can trigger early puberty. Black children are most likely to be obese, followed by white, then asian (https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/141/1/e20170865#T2). So that could explain part of the difference. And where there's a difference in obesity, you can almost guarantee there is a difference in diet.

I think its been found that across the board, regardless or race, that each generation starts slightly younger than the last, on average (and statistically, not individually!)

Anonymous wrote:OP, you're probably Asian American, or at least I hope you are, but this makes me uncomfortable. It may be a totally innocent question, but it certainly plays into stereotypes of Asian men as feminine or childlike. And obviously (??) Asian ethnicities are very very diverse.

Studies show that African-American boys and girls start puberty earlier on average, does that play into a stereotype too?

OP just asked a medically-related question.

Asian DS started at 11yo. So from one sample experience, no, they do not start later!

Anonymous wrote:OP, you're probably Asian American, or at least I hope you are, but this makes me uncomfortable. It may be a totally innocent question, but it certainly plays into stereotypes of Asian men as feminine or childlike. And obviously (??) Asian ethnicities are very very diverse.

? Not OP, but I am Asian, and I don't find the question uncomfortable. There are indeed studies that show that Asian females at least start puberty later than the other groups. Much have that has to do with diet (fat).

OP, you're probably Asian American, or at least I hope you are, but this makes me uncomfortable. It may be a totally innocent question, but it certainly plays into stereotypes of Asian men as feminine or childlike. And obviously (??) Asian ethnicities are very very diverse.

Not that I have noticed.

I haven't read any studies, but anecdotally it seems to me there isn't much of a delay compared to other ethnicities who are also on the same diet. My Asian son has delayed puberty because both my husband and I had delayed puberty, so in his case there is clearly a genetic component. His friends, Asian and others, all seemed to start growth spurts and voice changes at around the same time.

My half-Asian child was 13.5 when it started. He wasn't the first nor the last in his class or soccer team. Kind of average I guess

I have read research online regarding ethnicity having an impact on when puberty begins but I was wondering about real life examples of Asian American kids (eating predominantly American diet). Did your Asian son begin puberty (and end puberty) earlier, later or same as most peers of other ethnicities?