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

[I am out of control]

Of course, if the average is 13, then then 1/2 of the girls will be younger than that.

You're thinking of the median, not the average. The average of 12, 12, 12, 12 and 17 is 13, but four are below 13, while only one is above 13.

[oceanperch]

They say mothers milk is contaminated by unknown poisons in her system. That could spark up in all different ways in a growing lad/laddy.

[AmericaUnited]

Amen Hodar!!! It is certainly the growth hormones farmers use in animals that winds up in milk, meat, etc. Young children should not be getting a lifetime dose of growth hormones. This should be a no brainer!

[mindprism.com]

How many "everyday environmental toxins" could she have been exposed to by age 7 months

16 months worth.