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The selenium status and intakes of females were studied during early puberty but prior to menarche. Because of the dramatic changes in physical growth during the early adolescent period, nutritional requirements and intakes should be sufficient to support optimum growth. The selenium Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for adolescents has been extrapolated from values derived for adult males and adjusted for body weight and growth factors. Forty healthy Caucasian females in pubertal stage 2 were studied. Anthropometric parameters including height, weight and body mass index (BMI) were all within the normal range. The mean±SEM age was 10.9±0.1yr.Pubertal stage was 1.98±0.06 for breast and 1.59±0.11 for pubic hair development. Selenium status was assessed by measurements of serum and red blood cell (RBQ selenium and glutathione peroxidase activity (GPx). Results (mean±SEM) for serum selenium (108±4 ng/mL), RBC selenium (211±7 ng/mL), serum GPx (2.8±0.1 U/g prot), and RBC GPx (15.9±0.9 U/g Hgb) were all in the normal range for healthy adults. There was a positive relationship between RBC selenium and BMI (r=0.4024, p=0.01) and weight (r=0.3154, p=0.0474). The mean daily intake of selenium based on 3-d dietary records was 100±4μg/d. The blood selenium measurements observed appear to be a reflection of the dietary selenium intakes which were more than double the RDA for selenium for this age group (45μ