A new study says the average age at which puberty begins for girls is still on the decline, beginning around 7 or 8.
According to the paper in Pediatrics, almost 25% of African American girls have reached a stage of breast development marking the onset of puberty by age 7, as had almost 15% of Latina girls and more than 10% of white girls.
But why is this happening?
The study says obesity and environmental chemicals found in everyday items–like water bottles and makeup–mimic estrogen.
“It’s certainly throwing up a warning flag… I think we need to think about the stuff we’re exposing our bodies to and the bodies of our kids,” Dr. Frank Biro, lead author of the study and director of adolescent medicine at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, told the New York Times.
Obesity is cited as a major factor, because body fat produces estrogen, which in turn triggers breast development and menstruation. But he also attributes the puberty trends to endocrine-disrupting chemicals like Bisphenol-A (BPA), which is used to make the plastics in water bottles and baby bottles. In January 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration raised concerns over the widespread use of BPA’s in consumer products, but so far little has been done to regulate its usage.
Other consequences of early puberty: increased risk of breast cancer (linked to an overexposure of estrogen), depression, youth violence.
Possibly the biggest repercussion of our girls going through puberty at such a young age is the emotional toll it can take, as noted in the Times article:
“Socially and emotionally, life can be difficult for a girl who has a child’s mind in a woman’s body and is not ready to deal with sexual advances from men and boys, or cope with her own hormone-spiked emotions and sexual impulses.”
Are you concerned about your daughter going through early puberty?
