Puberty Hitting Girls At Younger Age

KOIN 6 News ^ | January 28, 2002 | Christine Miles

[TopQuark]

Puberty Hitting Girls At Younger Age

Christine Miles, KOIN 6 News

PORTLAND -- If you think kids are growing up too fast these days, you may be right. Girls are hitting puberty at an earlier age, and scientists say it may be a sign of other health problems. Researchers at Oregon Health and Science University's Primate Research Center are trying to figure out why some girls as young as 4 or 5 are entering puberty. They say genetics plays a role, but they've also discovered that environmental factors, like certain plastics, could trigger early puberty. If you think young girls are growing up too fast and looking more mature than their age, it's not just the trendy clothes or makeup that they wear. Their bodies are changing -- entering puberty way before their parent's did. "Parents are having to learn to rethink what they think is normal," Daniel Mark of OHSU explains. Over the last century, the average age for girls entering puberty was age 13. But today, research shows that it's much younger. For Caucasian girls, the first signs of puberty come at age 7 or 8. For African-American girls, it's a little younger, between the ages of 6-8. At the Primate Center, researchers say genetics and environmental factors play a role in the early onset of puberty. For the last 30 years, Dr. Sergio Ojeda has been studying pre-mature puberty. He has a documented case of a girl, just 18 months old, fully developed, and a baby, not even a year old, menstruating. "She was menstruating at 7 months, and by 9 months, she was menstruating regularly," Ojeda says. Puberty is a function driven by the brain. The hypothalamus is an area at the base of the brain responsible for awakening part of the body to the process of puberty. Researchers believe that everyday environmental toxins trigger signals to the brain to begin puberty before the body is ready. "Chemicals that are used to make plastic that you see everyday -- plastic of soft drinks, the plastic that makes containers for milk, for baby formula," Ojeda says. Ojeda says that plastic toxins mimic hormones like estrogen, which play a key role in stimulating the brain. But if the body starts developing too early, it could be a warning sign for parents. "A 4-year-old having breast budding has a much high risk having something pathological going on like a CNS tumor or a cystic or a problem with their ovary." Those cases are rare, Marks says that parents need to be aware of possible problems their children could be facing so they can get treatment. "Medication is the treatment. And it's not a benign therapy, but it's an effective therapy once a monthly injections of a hormone," Marks says. Researchers hope to track down an exact cause in premature puberty, in hopes of slowing down the development process, so kids can enjoy being kids. Boys are also entering puberty earlier, but not as quickly as girls. Researchers also say that childhood obesity is also a trigger for premature puberty.

Posted: January 28, 2002

All Material Copyright 2001, Emmis Television LP
or by original content developer

[Rodney King]

Back it up ... sure ... I have eyes. Look at your class yearbook. Mine is from the late 70's. Look at the girls in your class, then look at the boys. How many Freshmen had beards and mustache's then? Now take a look at THIS year's yearbook.

Yeah, that's a good scientific method. The fact is that for as long as menstration has been studied, the average age has stayed the same.

The girls look more mature, at a younger age.

Maybe because they dress differently?

This has hardly been ignored, several articles have been written about this.

There have also been a lot of articles about how Bush stole the election, and how his tax-cut started the recession.

Common sense over-ride.

Junk Science afoot.

[TopQuark]

Of course, if the average is 13, then then 1/2 of the girls will be younger than that. This is not true: you have confused the average and the median. In this case, they may have significantly different values.

Do try to be civil when you post.

[Rodney King]

Good post. An excerpt from your link:

"The National Center for Health Statistics reported in 1973 that the average age that girls began menstrual periods (menarche) was 12.8 years, about the same as in the 1950s. Compare that to the most recent study of over 17,000 apparently normal girls, done in 1997. The overall average stayed the same, with an average age of 12.9 years for Caucasian girls and 12.2 years for African-American girls. Thus, there is no evidence that menarche begins earlier now than 50 years ago."

[Rodney King]

Of course, if the average is 13, then then 1/2 of the girls will be younger than that. This is not true: you have confused the average and the median. In this case, they may have significantly different values.

Yes, sorry. The point is that there always have been, and always will be exceptions to the average. Anecdotal evidence that some girls develop at 9 does not mean that the average is going down.

[Major Matt Mason]

Wow! Bubba and Roger can get 'em even younger, now. I bet they'll be thrilled to hear this news.

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

The hormone injected cows crossed my mind too when I read this article. It would make sense.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Better diet. Generally poverty stricken areas have later puberty. People are taller now too. And heavier.

[Rodney King]

The hormone injected cows crossed my mind too when I read this article. It would make sense.

It might make sense, but the science to back it up does not exist.

[Hodar]

Your study has an apparent difference than the same study quoteded here :

Herman-Giddens' study, published in the journal Pediatrics, found that the initial signs of puberty are occurring earlier than previously recorded, — up to a year earlier in white girls and two years earlier in African-American girls.

Source

And further disputed here:

"According to research first published in the medical journal Pediatrics in April of 1997, the age of the onset of puberty is getting earlier for girls, with the average age of either breasts or pubic hair showing up as 9.7 years for Caucasians and 8.1 years for African-Americans. Before this study of 17,000 girls — evaluated by their pediatricians during routine examinations — the norm for puberty onset was considered to be 11 years old, or one year later for white girls and two years later for African-Americans.

Source

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

When was the last time you actually saw a classroom full of 3rd or 4th grade girls?

Some of those girls are as tall as I am (5'6"), and look like high school girls.

I vote for the growth hormone-laden milk produced in bulk (also served at schools, as opposed to the organic stuff) to be causing some of the early growth problems.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

I didn't read your response until after I posted mine. Great minds think alike.

[Freebird Forever]

And If this excess estrogen, is forcing supranatural changes in little girls, what would it be doing to little boys (Estrogen=Opposite of Testosterone...)?????

Perhaps there should be a study to investigate a possible correlation between excess estrogen in the food chain and the increase in male socialists and girly-men.

I'll spring for the cost of a hormone test for Daschle.

[Rodney King]

The article that I posted does not deny that the H-G study sited earlier puberty onset. It points out that H-G was a poor study because it was not a random sampling of the population, and only studies kids whose parents brought them to the doctor. Of course, there is a tremendous sampling bias there.

The article then goes on to point out that the age of menstration has stayed the same. If it is true that girls are beginning puberty earlier, then one would assume that they would also menstrate earlier. However they are not.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Fat, or lack thereof, also controls onset of puberty. Excess fat in the diet tends to bring puberty on early. You know those tiny gymnasts we see? Many of them aren't hitting puberty until their mid/late teens because they don't have any fat in their diet and they wear off what they do take in with their daily 3-5 hour workouts.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

I'll spring for the cost of a hormone test for Daschle.

LOL - I'll chip in too!

[Rodney King]

When was the last time you actually saw a classroom full of 3rd or 4th grade girls?

I see girls that age all the time. The first girl that I kissed (in 4th grade) has breasts. This was 18 years ago.

Some of those girls are as tall as I am (5'6"), and look like high school girls.

1. Nutrition is getting better. Boys and girls have been getting taller for the last 2,000 years.

I vote for the growth hormone-laden milk produced in bulk (also served at schools, as opposed to the organic stuff) to be causing some of the early growth problems.

Any good studies to back that up?

[Rodney King]

I think the problem is that people don't like to see their kids growing up, and they don't like the current culture which has them dressing like sluts. Rather than blame themselves or the culture they want to blame the big bad corporations.

[freedomson]

You might want to consider ramping up on your meds.

[monkey]

the consent of menstruation

I didn't realize they had to consent to that. New feminist legislation, I guess.