Puberty in Children with Intrauterine Growth Retardation

There is a remarkable scarcity of data concerning puberty in children born with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR). What little there is suggests that puberty occurs at a normal age compared with the general population, but a little early compared with other short children. The pattern of puberty is quite normal in children born with IUGR, with normal inter-relationships between the various events, although the growth spurt is, on average, a little less intense than in the normal population. In general, adult height is significantly compromised, partly because of the rather attenuated pubertal growth spurt.