Page 66 - (DK) Help Your Kids with Growing Up: A No-Nonsense Guide to Puberty and Adolescence

64 HEALTH Y BOD Y

Body hair SEE ALSO
‹
‹ 22–23 Self-expression
60–61 Keeping clean
During the teen years, rising hormone levels in the body cause Body image 72–73 ›
hair to darken and thicken. The colour, texture, and amount of Peer pressure 192–193 ›
hair usually depends on a person’s genetic make-up. Some
people have lots of body hair, while others have less.

The function of hair
Human hair has lots of different functions. The fine, light-coloured hair that
covers most of the body traps air to help humans regulate their body ▽ Puberty changes
temperature. Hair on the head also allows the body to retain heat and helps Hair grows in new places, and becomes
protect the scalp, while hair around the eyes and in the nose protects these darker and thicker in others. The colour
body parts from foreign objects entering. Pubic hair protects the genitals and of body hair may be different to the hair
may also play a part in attraction between males and females. on a teen’s head.

Face
Hair starts to grow on the
upper lip and chin
between the ages of 11
and 17. It gets darker and
thicker as boys enter their
late teens and twenties.
Armpits
For girls, armpit hair appears
between the ages of 8 and 14.
For boys, it happens slightly later,
Back, chest, and bum from 11 to 17 years old.
Boys may develop hair in Arms
these places during their
late teens. Both boys and girls have hair on
their arms from birth but during
puberty it may darken and thicken.
Groin
Pubic hair starts growing on girls
between the ages of 9 and 16. Boys
are usually later, between 10 and
16 years old. Pubic hair is coarser,
darker, and thicker than hair
elsewhere on the body, and usually
curly because of its structure.

Legs
For both sexes, leg hair starts
to darken and thicken as
puberty continues.

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