A 6-year-old girl is evaluated and found to be in Tanner stage 3. What condition does this indicate?

Tanner stage 3 indicates that the child is progressing through puberty, characterized by the development of secondary sexual characteristics. In girls, Tanner stage 3 is marked by further breast development, increased pubic hair, and the onset of menstrual cycles may begin to approach. Typically, puberty in girls begins between the ages of 8 to 13, and reaching Tanner stage 3 at the age of 6 is significantly earlier than expected.

Precocious puberty is defined as the onset of secondary sexual characteristics before the age of 9 in boys and before 8 in girls. Since the girl is only 6 years old and is already in Tanner stage 3, this can be classified as precocious puberty. Detecting this condition is critical as it can be associated with various underlying conditions that require further evaluation.

In contrast, delayed puberty would refer to a lack of expected signs of sexual maturation by age, which is not applicable in this situation. Nutritional deficiency may impact growth and development but does not specifically correlate with Tanner staging. Normal development would indicate that the child is progressing through the expected stages of puberty for her age, which is not the case here given that she is manifesting advanced sexual characteristics at a very young age.