The Off to a Good Start: Physical, Emotional, and Sexual Development of Youth Grades 5-8 (OTAGS) curriculum provides students with a foundation for future sex education. The curriculum consists of three modules covering puberty, healthful relationships, and HIV and sexually transmitted infections. University of Illinois Extension educators taught…

Basic knowledge of human reproduction can help youth prepare for puberty and make later classes focused on advanced reproductive health topics manageable. With the intention of potentially informing the creation of learning materials, we conducted a needs assessment among children ages 7 to 12 in our suburban Chicago community to ascertain their…

This study examined whether aspects of pubertal maturation in girls vary across race and ethnicity. Findings highlighted the importance of including socioeconomic factors in exploration of menarcheal differences across race/ethnicity. Perceptions of pubertal timing did not vary across racial/ethnic groups. (SD)