Girls hitting puberty earlier

[Phoenix84]

I came across an interesting study that links childhood obesity to girls hitting puberty earlier.

news.msn.com/science-technology/more-us-gi8rls-developing-breasts-before-age-9-1

"Girls are developing breasts at younger and younger ages, a new study confirms.  And Upward trends in childhood obesity seem to be playing a major role.

Researchers found African American girls started getting breasts just before they turned nine, on average.  Among white girls the average age was about nine and a half - a few months earlier than in the 1990s.

The findings "confirm an ongoing downward trend in pubertal timing among U.S girls," said Dr. Anders Juul."

So do you think this is a problem?  The article does mention an increased risk for breast cancer, and a tendancy for kids experiencing early puberty to turn to drugs and alcohol sooner.  Though I would think the latter could be mitigated somewhat by parental involvement.  Is it a problem if girls are hitting puberty a while before boys?

I've been hearing about this for years.

[HoneyBBQ]

Fat ---> Estrogen ----> puberty earlier---->hormone sensitive diseases and cancers later in life.

Yep. Being fat or carrying too much fat certainly screws you in more ways than one.

[Deleted]

PMS would explain DD's attitude.....only she's had it since birth. 

[Formerly SK]

I work at an elementary school and had a girl come in for a pad yesterday because she got her period during class.  It threw me for a loop. 

[Deleted]

Nov 4, 2013 12:45:44 GMT -5 Formerly SK said:

I work at an elementary school and had a girl come in for a pad yesterday because she got her period during class.  It threw me for a loop. 

was she obese?

[Deleted]

Nov 4, 2013 12:45:44 GMT -5 Formerly SK said:

I work at an elementary school and had a girl come in for a pad yesterday because she got her period during class.  It threw me for a loop. 

I didn't get my period until I was a Freshman in HS! 

<---late bloomer

[whoami]

I was 14 I think but I was also 5' 11" and weighed 115 lbs and had no body fat. No eating issues either.

My SILs niece needed a bra at 7. I think she started her period at 9.  She was also quite heavy. It was definitely not her fault, but it all seemed so weird. Its like she was never a kid. 

[Phoenix84]

Nov 4, 2013 12:45:44 GMT -5 Formerly SK said:

I work at an elementary school and had a girl come in for a pad yesterday because she got her period during class.  It threw me for a loop. 

That is unusual.  Do you work for the nurses office?

[Phoenix84]

Nov 4, 2013 12:50:44 GMT -5 whoami said:

I was 14 I think but I was also 5' 11" and weighed 115 lbs and had no body fat. No eating issues either.

My SILs niece needed a bra at 7. I think she started her period at 9.  She was also quite heavy. It was definitely not her fault, but it all seemed so weird. Its like she was never a kid. 

The article talks about breast development, not periods, though the two are related.  That's crazy some girls are hitting puberty even earlier than the article stated. 

Some kids do look older than their ages should indicate.  And of course, that affects how adults and other kids interact with them.

[Deleted]

My dd is 12 and started getting her period... And wears a 34B... She has put on some weight, but I did too during his phase of what seems like rapid growth... At the same age. Most of the moms I talk too say 11-13 is their norm...

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

There have been reports that the age of puberty has been decreasing since 1920. This article is a year old, which means that the data from it is probably about 3 years old, if not older.

Today most doctors accept that the age of onset of puberty is dropping steadily. Many studies have showed this to be the case for girls, and new research carried out by Herman-Giddens, and published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, has found the same for boys. The age of onset of biological adulthood continues to plunge. Consider the statistics provided by German researchers. They found that in 1860, the average age of the onset of puberty in girls was 16.6 years. In 1920, it was 14.6; in 1950, 13.1; 1980, 12.5; and in 2010, it had dropped to 10.5. Similar sets of figures have been reported for boys, albeit with a delay of around a year.

Lots of speculation as to why it continues to drop. The authors of the article thought that it would bottom out, and they're somewhat alarmed that it has not.

[whoami]

I think the hormones in our food also contributes. 

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Nov 4, 2013 13:07:08 GMT -5 whoami said:

I think the hormones in our food also contributes. 

The age has been dropping since 1860, when they started keeping records.  While hormones in food may contribute, it's not likely wholly responsible.

[Cookies Galore]

Nov 4, 2013 12:50:33 GMT -5 @beerwench said:

Nov 4, 2013 12:45:44 GMT -5 Formerly SK said:

I work at an elementary school and had a girl come in for a pad yesterday because she got her period during class.  It threw me for a loop. 

I didn't get my period until I was a Freshman in HS! 

<---late bloomer

I was 11! The boobs came much later. Much, much later.

[whoami]

Nov 4, 2013 13:15:26 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Nov 4, 2013 13:07:08 GMT -5 whoami said:

I think the hormones in our food also contributes. 

The age has been dropping since 1860, when they started keeping records.  While hormones in food may contribute, it's not likely wholly responsible.

Yes, that is why I said "contributes". 

[Phoenix84]

Nov 4, 2013 13:15:26 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Nov 4, 2013 13:07:08 GMT -5 whoami said:

I think the hormones in our food also contributes. 

The age has been dropping since 1860, when they started keeping records.  While hormones in food may contribute, it's not likely wholly responsible.

I'm not going to pretend to know the answers.  But would better nutrition have anything to do with it?  For example, presumably people have been getting taller on average over the same time frame.  Or perhaps overall better health due to the elminination of a lot of childhood diseases?

[Deleted]

Well, my daughter started at 9...while she was in the 4th grade.  She is now 12,  4'10", 88 pounds, and has boobs (her size now, was tinier when she was 9).

It threw me for a loop that is for sure.  I didn't start until I was 13.  I don't know if it is her genetics (she is Indian from India) or if such a drastic change in her environment/diet caused it.  

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

I'm not going to pretend to know the answers. But would better nutrition have anything to do with it? For example, presumably people have been getting taller on average over the same time frame. Or perhaps overall better health due to the elminination of a lot of childhood diseases?

The article speculates about many of those things. Better nutrition is the primary one, but they also touch on obesity and a few other things.

[zibazinski]

That story has been going around for more than 20 years. I taught elem for many years. In all those years ONE girl got her period, just one, and she was a 12 year old in 5 th grade. Pretty normal timing. Boobs? Yes, if they were chunky but otherwise not. I was told hormones in chicken and everything else. DD developed normally as did her friends.

[Deleted]

Nov 4, 2013 16:25:17 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

That story has been going around for more than 20 years. I taught elem for many years. In all those years ONE girl got her period, just one, and she was a 12 year old in 5 th grade. Pretty normal timing. Boobs? Yes, if they were chunky but otherwise not. I was told hormones in chicken and everything else. DD developed normally as did her friends.

I'm pretty sure I was 11 or 12 and in 5th or 6th grade (6th grade was still elementary school) in the 70s.  are you saying that wasn't normal?  I also started wearing a bra at the end of 4th grade.  DD was 12 or 13 (but was a freshman in high school) and she was a skinny little thing - probably barely 100 pounds.

[raeoflyte]

I started when I was 10, before 5th grade started.  I already wore a bra and was not overweight.  I was the first one to start by by the end of the year at least 1/3rd of the girls had their period.  This was 1989 so...

My mom told my homeroom teacher when the school year started, but I was well prepared and never had any reason to ask a teacher for anything about my period so my guess is that only 1 girl had an issue that she had to bring up to Zib.  

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

In all those years ONE girl got her period, just one, and she was a 12 year old in 5 th grade.

That you knew of.....

[swamp]

Nov 4, 2013 13:31:01 GMT -5 Cookies Galore said:

Nov 4, 2013 12:50:33 GMT -5 @beerwench said:

I didn't get my period until I was a Freshman in HS! 

<---late bloomer

I was 11! The boobs came much later. Much, much later.

[Deleted]

The hormones are a huge issue, but it's nothing new, my sister knew that when my nieces were little (they are in their 30s now). That was way before the internet of course, it was much harder to get info then.

We can't afford to buy everything organic, but we DO buy only organic chickens and eggs. 

[justme]

I completely buy the weight thing though - in my late 20s I gained a fair bit of weight and found myself in search of new bra sizes. And at the age there was no sudden influx of hormones - natural or otherwise - to prompt that change. Lost some of it and they stayed, just crossing the rest of it stays if I manage to lose more.

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Nov 4, 2013 13:03:51 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

There have been reports that the age of puberty has been decreasing since 1920. This article is a year old, which means that the data from it is probably about 3 years old, if not older.

Today most doctors accept that the age of onset of puberty is dropping steadily. Many studies have showed this to be the case for girls, and new research carried out by Herman-Giddens, and published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, has found the same for boys. The age of onset of biological adulthood continues to plunge. Consider the statistics provided by German researchers. They found that in 1860, the average age of the onset of puberty in girls was 16.6 years. In 1920, it was 14.6; in 1950, 13.1; 1980, 12.5; and in 2010, it had dropped to 10.5. Similar sets of figures have been reported for boys, albeit with a delay of around a year.

Lots of speculation as to why it continues to drop. The authors of the article thought that it would bottom out, and they're somewhat alarmed that it has not.

Yikes.  If it continues to drop, human females could be born already getting periods.  Can you imagine babies giving birth to babies in 50 years?   

[Phoenix84]

I don't know about babies being born having periods.  But it could in theory keep dropping, and who knows, maybe in 50 years girls as young as 5 or 6 might be getting periods?  Of course, the boys would also have to be in puberty to impregnate the girl...

What I'm wondering, and I haven't seen any discussion on this, is will there be any negative social outcomes from this?  Like, will some girls being more... developed... than others lead to stigmatization?  What are the social outcomes of having a bunch of developed girls around pre pubecent boys?

[Formerly SK]

Nov 4, 2013 21:12:27 GMT -5 GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl said:

Nov 4, 2013 13:03:51 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

There have been reports that the age of puberty has been decreasing since 1920. This article is a year old, which means that the data from it is probably about 3 years old, if not older.

Today most doctors accept that the age of onset of puberty is dropping steadily. Many studies have showed this to be the case for girls, and new research carried out by Herman-Giddens, and published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, has found the same for boys. The age of onset of biological adulthood continues to plunge. Consider the statistics provided by German researchers. They found that in 1860, the average age of the onset of puberty in girls was 16.6 years. In 1920, it was 14.6; in 1950, 13.1; 1980, 12.5; and in 2010, it had dropped to 10.5. Similar sets of figures have been reported for boys, albeit with a delay of around a year.

Lots of speculation as to why it continues to drop. The authors of the article thought that it would bottom out, and they're somewhat alarmed that it has not.

Yikes.  If it continues to drop, human females could be born already getting periods.  Can you imagine babies giving birth to babies in 50 years?   

My 7yo DD barely weighs 40lbs.  I can't imagine her biologically being able to carry a baby in two years (if she got her period at age 9). 

[skubikky]

Nov 4, 2013 13:07:08 GMT -5 whoami said:

I think the hormones in our food also contributes. 

www.livescience.com/1824-truth-early-puberty.html

When precocious puberty entered the radar screen in the early 1990s, the first suspects were hormones in milk and meats, particularly the artificial bovine growth hormone, rBGH. But this is a protein hormone, destroyed in human digestion, not a steroid hormone like estrogen.

[haapai]

It's the missing girls problem, first world version. 

I truly hate the sound of it.  I liked being a girl immensely.  Since I'd grown up reading a lot of Louisa May Alcott and girl-lit with origins before the 1930s, I didn't expect to have to deal with breasts or menarche until I was sixteen or so. 

I felt totally ripped off when I turned 12.  This didn't happen in the books I was reading. 

It also didn't make sense that in a world where the age of independence was increasing dramatically and women had to get an education and work, our bodies seemed hell-bent on propelling us into the stupidest time of our lives even faster.

I feel really sorry for any girl going through the same process at 10.