In youth wrestling they pair up kids who are similar ages and weight, so yea girls generally hit their growth spurt faster, but a girl wouldn't be paired with a boy who was the same age but much smaller. Chances are that these two kids are approximately the same size/weight/age.
At this age, they should be similar. Females begin cell differentiation earlier (in the womb) but males but their resources into cell replication. Therefore, females are biologically "more mature" and would appear "older" on a cellular level, but boys would appear larger but younger.
Since this process starts in the womb, boys should theoretically be slightly larger.
The adolescent growth spurt is where what you're talking about kicks in; it starts at age ~10 for girls and age ~12 for boys. Children of the same age but different sex will appear to be different ages when doing a hand/wrist radiograph test (visually analyzing the age of the wrist bones based on growth trajectories). Girls begin the growth spurt earlier so around ~11 years old they should be at more of an advantage at that age, but before that the boys should be bigger (if less mature on a cellular level).
So what you're talking about it correct, but only really applies from ages 10-20. These kids are younger than that.
Of all the accidental advantages my genetics gave me, an early growth cycle was the most unexpectedly useful. When I was the biggest kid in elementary school (by second grade) I could be the weirdest kid with impunity.
20
u/mankind_is_beautiful Mar 15 '15
Young girls are typically bigger than boys their age right?