Precocious puberty, puberty that occurs earlier than usual, is affecting many little girls all over the country. In the article Puberty before age 10- a new ‘normal’, a 6 year old girl, Ainsley, is developing breasts, pubic hair, armpit hair and a few pimples. All of these aspects of puberty are commonly found in girls ages 12-14 but it is occuring in girls at age 6.
Precocious puberty is not only a physical issue but a big emotional problem. AInsley does not feel “normal” compared to the kids at schools. Her precoious puberty is very embarrassing for her. The western doctors don’t have an answer for Ainsley’s precocious puberty and simply accept that precocious puberty has become more rampant in America.
However, there are some answers. Precocious puberty is due to high hormone levels of estrogen. However, a lot of the time these estrogens are not from the ovaries. In fact they come from the environment. These estrogens are called xeno-estrogens. These are chemicals, insulin and sugar, that mimic estrogen; they cause minor health problems but it is a relatively knew chemical in science. The xenoestrogens are causing precocious puberty.
So has the age of puberty increased within these past years? No It has not. Puberty includes three things breast development, pubic hair growth and menstruation. Although the average age of breast development has increased in recent years the average age of menstruation has not.
There are some girls that do not have precocious puberty but start puberty earlier than other girls. However this group is beginning to get blurred together with the girls that actually have precocious puberty. The difference between these two girls is that the girls with precocious puberty will have advanced bone age. They will be shorter than a girl who starts her period later.
Although precocious puberty doesn’t seem that bad, it has negative effects for these girls socially. These girls tend to lose their virginity faster, get depression and have low self-esteem. What do you think, is precocious puberty something we should worry about?
other links:
http://kishealth.org/parent/medical/sexual/precocious.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenoestrogen
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38600414/ns/health-childrens_health/t/growing-too-soon-puberty-strikes–year-old-girls/
link to article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/magazine/puberty-before-age-10-a-new-normal.html?pagewanted=all
buddhabear28
12whiteal, I think precocious puberty is something to worry about because of its negative effect on the social lives of the girls who are affected by it. With that being said, I wonder if there are any ways to reverse precocious puberty. Here are some ideas: http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/sexual/precocious.html#