Is Puberty in Girls Coming Too Soon?

[JessicaS]

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellnes...1345321&page=1

A new study published in the journal Pediatrics found that girls who hit puberty younger than 10 are much more common than they were in the past two decades. In the study, researchers assessed more than 1,200 6- to 8-year-old girls in three metropolitan areas for breast development and the appearance of pubic hair, both signs of early puberty.

[Purple Sage]

Interesting article. I'm 34 now and I started puberty early (breast development at 8, period right after I turned 10), but so far the first of my DDs to hit puberty started about 2 years later than me. Hopefully my other 2 DDs will be more on the 'normal' side than I was. It would be interesting to know what environmental causes, if any, are to blame for the earlier start of puberty.

[philomom]

I know it can happen but my dd started her period at the exact same age I did.... end of the fourth grade. Maybe some folks are more susceptible to the hormones in the food? Or maybe its the quantity they eat?

I really don't relish the idea of menstruating 7 year old granddaughters. That just seems too little.

[Llyra]

This has been on my mind lately. DD1 is 6. Her best friend is 7, and in the last few months has started breast development, noticeably. The child is a bit overweight, too-- I guess that can sometimes be related. Anyway, DD asked me about it today. She said I'd told her that she'd be a lot older when her breasts started to grow, and she can't understand why it's happening to her friend already-- I think she was afraid it maybe was going to happen to her soon, too.

I was ten before I even had breast buds, and menstruated at 12, and I guess I assumed it would be about the same for DD. She's thin for her age, and we eat a largely local and organic diet, but there are so many toxins and hormone disrupting chemicals and we just can't control their exposure to all of them. It worries me, because I think there are emotional consequences when a child's physical maturity so far outstrips their emotional, social, and moral maturity.

Hmmm....