Pubarche (/ˈpjuːˌbɑːrki/) refers to the first appearance of pubic hair at puberty.[1] It is one of the physical changes of puberty and can occur independently of complete puberty. The early stage of sexual maturation, also known as adrenarche, is marked by characteristics including the development of pubic hair, axillary hair, adult apocrine body odor, acne, and increased oiliness of hair and skin. The Encyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Health corresponds SMR2 (sexual maturity rating) with pubarche, defining it as the development of pubic hair that occurs at a mean age of 11.6 years in females (range 9.3–13.9 years) and 12.6 years in males (range 10.7–14.5 years). It further describes that pubarche's physical manifestation is vellus hair over the labia or the base of the penis.[2] See Table 1 for the entirety of the sexual maturity rating description.
A study researched whether thelarche pathway, beginning puberty with breast development alone, or the pubarche pathway, beginning puberty with pubic hair development alone, represents the true pubertal development. The study is an observational, longitudinal cohort study. The study cohort is limited to a group of black and white girls who were seen annually for ten years. It is concluded in the research that pubarche may represent true pubertal maturation.[3]