Question:
Hello,
This is not a question but feedback.
Could you add an option to choose the puberty start time on the Tanner test?
I am 18, almost 19, but my puberty began when I was almost 15, so my real age does not match my physical age. I don’t know how much chronological age impacts test scores, but it would be cool to have that option.
Best.
Answer:
I am glad you asked. I’m willing to consider improvements.
What do you consider to be the start of puberty? For most boys, they consider it to be the first noticeable sign that they are changing, such as when pubic hair starts to show or when they first have an erection. Since the definition varies by person, I instead ask whether the various markers appeared. Thus, indirectly, I am asking if you passed puberty.
While the timing of the various markers varies among individuals, they fall into a rough pattern. For example, when you state that you have hair between your belly button and your groin, that tells me that you are at least in stage 4. Each stage lasts about two years, so that tells me that Stage 2 started about four years ago. Since I also know your age is nearly 19, I can reasonably guess that puberty started for you just before you turned 15.
What I haven’t done is print out the estimated time puberty started for you. I’ll think about adding a question to ask a guy when he thinks puberty started for him. That would give another cross-check on the data.