Introduction

This chapter concerns the way in which maturity may be assessed. It will concentrate on the assessment of the process of maturation from birth through childhood and adolescence, i.e. the period of time in which maturation interacts with growth. It is important, therefore, to understand the difference between ‘growth’ and ‘maturation’. Bogin (1999) defines the former as ‘a quantitative increase in size or mass’ such as increases in height or weight. Development or maturation, on the other hand, is defined as ‘a progression of changes, either quantitative or qualitative, that lead from an undifferentiated or immature state to a highly organized, specialized, and mature state’. The end point of maturation, within the context of the growth, is the attainment of adulthood, which may be defined as a ‘functionally mature individual’. Functional maturation, in a biological context, implies the ability to successfully procreate and raise offspring who themselves will successfully procreate. We know that in addition to the obvious functional necessities of sperm and ova production, reproductive success within any mammalian society is also dependent on a variety of morphological characteristics such as size and shape. The too short or too tall, the too fat or too thin are unlikely to achieve the same reproductive success as those within an ‘acceptable’ range of height and weight values that are themselves dependent on the norms in a particular society.