There are myths and taboos regarding bodily changes that adolescents experience.
(i) A girl becomes pregnant if she looks at the boys during menstruation.
(ii) The mother is responsible for the sex of her child.

It is called so as it is the most important endocrine gland. Its size is just equal to a small pea. The hormones secreted by pituitary gland stimulate testes and ovaries to secrete their hormones. It also regulates the activity of other endocrine glands.

Adolescence is also a period of change in a person's way of thinking. They are more independent than before and are also self conscious.
Intellectual development takes place and they tend to spend considerable time in thinking. It is time of one's life when the brain has the greatest capacity for learning. An adolescent may feel insecure while trying to adjust to the changes in the body and mind.

In the life cycle of frog the tadpole passes through certain stages to become a frog. It is controlled by thyroxine, the hormone produced by thyroid. It requires the presence of iodine in water. If water in which tadpoles are growing does not contain sufficient iodine, the tadpoles cannot become adults.

Adolescence is a stage of rapid growth and development. Hence, the diet for an adolescent has to be carefully planned. They should be provided a balanced diet, which means that meal should include proteins, carbohydrates, fats and vitamins in requisite proportions, e.g., milk is a balanced food itself. Fruits provide nourishment. Iron builds blood and iron rich foods such as leafy vegetables, jaggery, meat, citrus, Indian gooseberry are good for adolescents.

We should avoid taking medicines/drugs unless prescribed by a doctor because
(i) several medicines have adverse side effects and have specific dosage levels which if not followed may harm the body.
(ii) drugs can be addictive too and can ruin our health and happiness.

Yes, it is right because beginning of menstruation, i.e. reproductive life begins at 10-12 years of age is known as menarche and stoppage of menstruation, i.e. females can't reproduce now at 45-50 years of age is known as menopause.

Yes, if people do not have enough iodine in their diet, then they may suffer from goitre. This is because iodine is required by the thyroid gland to secrete thyroxine. The lack of thyroxine causes goitre.
lodised salt is table salt mixed with a minute amount of various salts of element iodine. It is important for the thyroid gland to make thyroxine and to prevent mental retardation and stunted growth in children.

Two features seen in boys at puberty are
(i) Growth of facial hairs.
(ii) Voice becomes hoarse.
Two features seen in girls at puberty are
(i) Development of breasts.
(ii) Region below the waist becomes wider.

The reproductive life, i.e. capacity for maturation and production of gametes lasts for a much longer time in males than in females. In females, the reproductive phase of life begins at puberty (11-13 years of age) and generally lasts till the age of approximately 45-50 years. Thus, reproductive life once begun, continues in males and ends in females.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines adolescence as the period of life between 11 and 19 years of age. Since, adolescence period covers the teens period, i.e. 13-19 years of age, adolescence is also called as 'teenage'.

During puberty, there is increase in the activity of sweat and sebaceous glands. This leads to increased sweating often resulting in body odour. The excess oil and sweat get collected in the tiny pores of the skin, blocking them so that the bacteria can grow in it. This causes the formation of pimples and acne on the face of boys and girls at this time.

Present height = 130 cm
% of full height = 78

\(=\frac { 130 }{ 78 } \times 100=166.67\quad cm\)

(i) The hormones which are responsible for the male and female secondary sexual characters are called sex hormones.
(ii) They are called sex hormones as they control the sexual activities and help us to distinguish boys from girls.
(iii) In boys, sex hormones control formation of sperms by testes and growth of facial hair, etc and in girls, they help to develop breasts, control menstrual cycle, etc.

Hormone is the term used for secretions of endocrine glands responsible for changes taking place in the body.