Well Mama, it’s been pretty much established… girls are entering puberty earlier than ever.
No kidding.
Just stroll into a 5th grade classroom and take a look around. Some of those little girls are popping out like crazy. Humps, bumps and lovely-lady-lumps all over the place!
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics the average age of girls starting puberty has dropped from 15, in the late 1800s, to age 12 in 2007. There have been cases of girl as young as 6 starting to develop breasts and sprout pubic hair, and girls as young as 8 starting their periods.
Age 8? Say what?
Dr. Sandra Steingraber's August 2007 report "The Falling Age of Puberty in U.S. Girls: What We Know, What We Need to Know" addresses the probable reasons behind early puberty and well as the consequences faced by little girls who develop at a young age. Causes behind the early blossoming (also known as "precocious puberty") include:
* Childhood obesity (though this can be a consequence of early puberty as well as a contributing factor).
* Chemicals found in foods, toys, cleaning products, the environment, and health & beauty products.
* Premature or low birth weight
* Stress
* Formula feeding
* A sedentary lifestyle with little exercise (too much TV, video games, computer time, and processed snacks, and not enough freeze tag)
And the scary part, early puberty is not just an physical inconvenience for these girls, it has been shown to raise the risk of:
* Breast cancer (Dr. Steingraber's report was commissioned by The Breast Cancer Fund)
* Polycystic ovary syndrome
* High-risk behaviors in later adolescence like smoking, drinking, drugs, crime and unprotected sex
* Violent victimization
* Psychopathologies like depression and anxiety
* Conduct disorders and delinquency
* Lower academic education
No little girl deserves to have her childhood marred because her body is doing things that her mind is not ready for. Top that off with the negative physical, emotional and mental effects than could come in to play and it's even more scary. Add to that the fact that the causes behind this phenomenon seem to be preventable, and it's damned tragic.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Childhood ... at warp speed
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2 comments:
I think this is a great blog! Thank you for creating it.
It's interesting that you would be discussing the early puberty issue. My daughter is 7 years old, in the second grade, and I'd swear that there are lumps on her chest.
She has hair on her legs and hips already. Not to mention that she is very mature, the pending development of her young body is scary.
I would love to dialogue about it with other mothers, I'm not sure that I believe it is preventable. Even if we pay attention to everything they eat and are conscious, healthy people, the stages her little body goes through could be hereditary, as just one example, I'm definitely not an expert.
I'm glad to have a place to openly discuss issues we face as mothers, and issues our daughters will inevitably face.
Thanks for the forum, keep up the inspiring blog!
Thanks so much for the comment, Denise! I'm excited to hear what other moms have to say about these topics. We have so much insight to share with each other on issues that effect our kids.
As far as the early puberty findings, I have to say I give the outside influences a bit more credit. I'm sure heredity does have a lot to do with some children blooming a bit early, but it seems to be happening on a large scale. Could it be that with all the chemicals, preservatives, and artificial enhancers pumped into our food, water and air that we're now starting to see the effects?
The report also found higer rates of early puberty among minority and lower-income girls. Another hint at diet and environment? I really hope they can do more studies into this.
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