[Pontiac]

I don't know why these girls are developing so early, but it is up to the parents to teach them what they need to know, but also to remember that regardless of what they look like, they are still children and need to be treated and protected as such.

The latest theory I have read to explain the earlier onset of puberty are;

Better nutrition and less exercise.

A higher percentage of body fat in young girls leads to an earlier onset of puberty. Less exercise by today’s girls leads to the girls carrying extra body fat. Estrogen is fat soluble which means that the girl bodies retain more estrogen than they would if they carried less fat.

Athletic girls (such as swimmers and gymnast) tend to enter puberty later. This is attributed to their lower body fat.

[Gabz]

A higher percentage of body fat in young girls leads to an earlier onset of puberty. Less exercise by today’s girls leads to the girls carrying extra body fat.

And of course that makes total sense, except when it comes to girls who are active, but are entering puberty years earlier than their mothers did.

Nutrition I believe has a great deal to do with it, but more along the lines of what is put into our foods now than 30 or 40 years ago.

When I was 11 what I knew about bras was from the ads I saw in my mother's Good Housekeeping magazine. I'm 49 and rarely need to wear one. My 11 year old, OTOH, has to wear one, yet she's a skinny bit of nothing who plays softball, takes dance, used to do TaiKwanDo, and runs around like crazy (she exhausts me just watching her.)

I am well aware that anecdotes are not evidence, but I can't believe this huge increase in the earlier onset of puberty is solely because of lack of exercise and nutritional issues.