Puberty is arriving ever younger in American females
8 is no longer considered abnormal
AT 8 or 9 years old, the typical American schoolgirl is perfecting her cursive handwriting style. She's picking out nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs in sentences, memorizing multiplication tables and learning to read a thermometer.She's a little girl with a lot to learn.
And yet, in increasing numbers, when girls this age run across the playground in T-shirts, there is undeniable evidence that their bodies are blossoming. The first visible sign of puberty, breast budding, is arriving ever earlier in American girls.
Some parents and activists suspect environmental chemicals.
Most pediatricians and endocrinologists say that, though they have suspicions about the environment, the only scientific evidence points to the obesity epidemic. What's clear, however, is that the elements of female maturity increasingly are spacing themselves out over months, even years -- and no one quite knows why.
While early menstruation is a known risk factor for breast cancer, no one knows what earlier breast development means for the future of girls' health...
This from the LA Times. Photo by Lisa Adams.
No comments:
Post a Comment