Focusing on puberty development and strengthening adolescent sexual and reproductive health education

The overall advanced trend in pubertal development among Chinese adolescents of both sexes exists. As pubertal development continues to advance and sexual attitudes are gradually opening up, there is a trend towards a younger age of first sexual intercourse, and thus, adolescents are facing multiple health threats such as unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and human immunodificiency virus (HIV) infections with a huge gap between the supply and demand for sexuality education and sexual and reproductive health services. The present study comprehensively reviewed the critical situation regarding to pubertal development and the challenges of the sexual and reproductive health service system targeting to adolescents, and proposes that it is important to provide adolescents with earlier and more comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education and related health services, and there is an urgent need to establish a sexual and reproductive health service system towards adolescents that is multi-sector cooperative, supported by new technological means, and assisted by multiple resources.