COPENHAGEN — Anders Juul, a professor of pediatric endocrinology at the University of Copenhagen, said more research is needed into the timing of male puberty. More than half of male deaths in the U.S. in 2023 were classified as premature.
Between 1990 and 2016, published research papers on female puberty outnumbered those on male puberty by 1.67 times. The average life expectancy for U.S. men in 2023 was 75.8 years, which was 6.5 years lower than for men in the longest-lived high-income countries. Early puberty in boys is associated with higher risks of heart attack, type 2 diabetes, obesity, depression, and ADHD.
Juul, who has studied puberty for over 30 years and heads the growth and reproduction department at Rigshospitalet, said, "Increased knowledge on factors regulating timing of male puberty may be the key to understanding long-term health in males." Heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are leading causes of premature death for U.S. men. These five leading causes of death for U.S. men cost an estimated $420.6 billion annually in treatment and lost income.
Puberty timing is connected to long-term health outcomes and disease risk in humans. Early puberty in girls is associated with higher risks of endometriosis, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, breast cancer, depression, eating disorders, uterine fibroids, osteoarthritis, and all-cause mortality. Late puberty in girls is associated with celiac disease, asthma, and poor sleep. Puberty onset before age 8 or after age 13 is associated with early menopause.
Physical signs of puberty in girls include breast development and menarche, while spermarche refers to a boy's first ejaculation. Spermarche is difficult to measure, as some boys are unaware it has occurred. Approximately two-thirds of the genetic variants affecting puberty timing are shared between males and females. Researchers have identified 76 independent genetic variants specific to male puberty timing. Androgens control pigmentation in the human body.
A 2015 study of 500,000 individuals in the UK Biobank found that earlier puberty timing in boys and girls was associated with 48 negative health outcomes. A 2024 study identified a genetic connection between hair color and puberty timing, linking red, dark brown, and black hair to progressively higher chances of early puberty onset. Additionally, one study found that each year puberty onset is delayed corresponds to a nine-month longer lifespan for men. Late male puberty is associated with an increased likelihood of being bullied.
No independent assessment of Anders Juul’s claims was available.