- checking login information
Loading...Early Puberty Doubles in a Decade
- Melissa Breyer
- August 10, 2010
- 1:01 pm
- 173 comments
In the last decade, the number of girls in the US reaching puberty at the age of 7 has doubled. The cause has not been confirmed, but obesity and exposure to chemicals that mimic the female hormone estrogen are the prime suspects, according to an article in New Scientist magazine.
The figures come from a study of 1200 girls in three US cities. Of the girls studied, 10.4 percent of white 7-year-olds had breast development consistent with the onset of puberty, compared to 5 percent in a 1997 study, earlier studies had identified early puberty mainly in black girls. The new study is being published on Monday in the journal Pediatrics.
Marcia Herman-Giddens of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who led the 1997 study, expressed shock at the increases. “To find the girls are starting breast development earlier and earlier is extremely concerning,” she says. “To have that much change in such a short time, it has to be the environment.”
Frank Biro of the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Ohio, head of the new study, suggests that “Part of it is the increase in overweight and obese girls.” Hormones released by the extra fat cells could play a role. His team is also checking blood and urine samples for chemicals that mimic oestrogen, from plastics in the environment, for example, to soy in the diet.
Read more: Cancer, Children, Diet & Nutrition, Eating for Health, General Health, Health, Health & Safety, News & Issues, Women's Health, early puberty
Melissa Breyer
Melissa Breyer is a writer and editor with a background in sustainable living, specializing in food, science and design. She is the co-author of True Food (National Geographic) and has edited and written for regional and international books and periodicals, including The New York Times Magazine. Melissa lives in Brooklyn, NY.
-
Hormone Products Poison Pets and Children
84 comments -
Do You Control Time?
48 comments -
The Color Green Isn’t Actually “Green”
77 comments
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.
people are talking
Thank you
Thanks. I wish they had much larger pens for them
very interesting.
Oh dear. "compounds in sage may protect cellular DNA from damage and may even stimulate…
I barbecue all year 'round and use dry oak or manzanita wood from our property. I don't ever use bri…
173 comments
+ add your ownthis is why a menstuating doll is needed., who wants to help me make such a toy?
thanks for the article!!!
Thanks for the article.
Very interesting and a bit unsettling. Thanks Melissa.
This is disturbing
probably because of obesity
organic food the only solution!
Monsantos Frankenfoods and all other GMO . And it's all driven by pure greed.
This is disturbing.
thanks for the article!!!
login to add your comment
use your care2 login
add your comment
20