Girls hitting puberty younger

louisvillebride21

The article is ok. But I find the last line confusing/interesting.

http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/nm/us_puberty_earlier

Biro said that there are things families can do to minimize the possible risk of early puberty in young daughters, including eating more fruits and vegetables and eating together as a family

Not sure how eating together is going to stop puberty from hitting early?

ohwhynot

Hmmm.  Perhaps eating together as a family correlates with lower rates of obesity.  Obesity is associated with early puberty. 

If that's what the author meant, it could have been stated more clearly.

baystateapple

Since the article sites obesity as one of the causes of early onset puberty, maybe the author is theorizing that a family eating together is going to eat healthier, and possibly stave off obesity?  Which I think is a pretty broad generalization.  I know some families that have "dinner" together every night, and all they eat is crap.

Nebb

I grew up eating dinner infront of the tv, no wonder I hit puberty when I was 11. It all makes sense now...

opalsky007

Maybe because kids are more inclined to eat their fruits and vegetables when their parents are there?

louisvillebride21

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_girls-hitting-puberty-younger?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:a2dbdc76-6ee9-4b27-bb7b-e5c78992941ePost:5745ab1f-c4ee-46c0-9e74-f117e4444517">Re: Girls hitting puberty younger</a>:
[QUOTE]I grew up eating dinner infront of the tv, no wonder I hit puberty when I was 11. It all makes sense now...
Posted by Nebb[/QUOTE]

Snort.

I think it's bad causation. As pp said, eating together =/= eating healthy.

TatiMarie

 They were talking on the radio about this a few weeks ago, however, the reason they mentioned was hormones being added to the products we eat.  I think Marie Claire or some other magazine did an article a few years ago about a town in Puerto Rico where the girls are reaching puberty at age 7.

danieliza1127

Nebb, 11 is the normal range.  These new studies are showing more and more girls hitting puberty at 7 or 8.  That is WAY too young. 

There was just a big thing on the national news about this last night.  They were saying it can lead to more instances of breast cancer and other diseases, not to mention how 7 or 8 year old girls aren't prepared for those kinds of body changes. 

Nebb

I actually saw this on the news lastnight and was HORRIFIED at 7 or 8 year olds. I was the first in my entire grade in school, for atleast 2-3 years and it was awful. I think its sad that children have to deal with that so early.

I read an article a few years ago that the age of puberty changing is also linked with immune illnesses that are on the rise, largely because of the preservatives that are in our diets.

ohwhynot

One thing I don't understand is, why aren't boys hitting puberty earlier, too?   They're eating the same foods as girls and have similarly rising obesity rates, so why aren't they as affected? 

When school reconvenes (my son is entering 5th grade), I know a lot of girls will have started "developing" over the summer.  Anecdotally, a very few girls had already started in the 4th grade, and they were quite overweight.  The boys are all still scrawny little kids, although some of son's friends grew a lot taller over the summer. 

pumpkinpumpkin

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_girls-hitting-puberty-younger?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:a2dbdc76-6ee9-4b27-bb7b-e5c78992941ePost:3b209cc8-3093-4519-88ad-13471e04d56b">Re: Girls hitting puberty younger</a>:
[QUOTE]Hmmm.  Perhaps eating together as a family correlates with lower rates of obesity.  Obesity is associated with early puberty.  If that's what the author meant, it could have been stated more clearly.
Posted by ohwhynot[/QUOTE]

I can see this.

georgia_bride09

I hit puberty at 11, in sixth grade, and since my mom hadn't prepared me, it was not a fun time. Had I hit puberty at 7 or 8, I think it would have been 100 times worse. I can't even imagine.

danieliza1127

Hmm, I always thought 11-13 was the normal age.  Maybe I'm wrong.  I got my period when I was 11, about to turn 12.  I don't remember that being abnormal at all. 

mma3

My daughter is nine and she is already starting to hit the early stages of puberty as are most of the girls in her daycare.  I know that I will have to talk to her about Aunt Flo soon and dread it.  Emotionally, I don't feel she is ready but I would rather her know than wake up one morning and freak out.  I think that I was 10 (and not obese or overweight) when I started and I know that I was one of the first in my group of friends.

Nebb

I wonder if that also means that this younger generation are going to hit menopause a lot earlier in life as well.

FutureMrsTR

Lord, I was 16.  By that time, all of my friends had had their period for long enough to be sick of it so I was NOT looking forward to it.  But at least I was prepared.  I can't imagine going through that at 7 or 8.  And OWN, you bring up a good point about the boys.  That is odd.

opalsky007

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_girls-hitting-puberty-younger?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:a2dbdc76-6ee9-4b27-bb7b-e5c78992941ePost:dceb5e22-dbec-4f99-82cd-7bdf5e7cc00e">Re: Girls hitting puberty younger</a>:
[QUOTE]One thing I don't understand is, why aren't boys hitting puberty earlier, too?   They're eating the same foods as girls and have similarly rising obesity rates, so why aren't they as affected?  When school reconvenes (my son is entering 5th grade), I know a lot of girls will have started "developing" over the summer.  Anecdotally, a very few girls had already started in the 4th grade, and they were quite overweight.  The boys are all still scrawny little kids, although some of son's friends grew a lot taller over the summer. 
Posted by ohwhynot[/QUOTE]

Not totally sure, but aren't most of the hormones that wind up in foods either estrogen or similar? I know that a lot of milk contains estrogen or something, meant to keep the cows producing milk, and I read somewhere that certain plastics also release an estrogen-like hormone. Scary stuff.

<a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090326100714.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090326100714.htm</a>

waltzingmatilda13

Yeah, I was 11, too, but I think it's because I was freakishly tall and thus weighed more than most girls my age. I think I was about 5'6" when I was 11. I can't imagine dealing with that in, what, first or second grade?

And I think opalsky is right about the estrogen in foods being what a lot of people think is the cause.

aggiebug

Fat is the 2nd largest (to ovaries) estrogen producing organ in our body. So while obesity effects both sexes. It makes sense it cause early maturity in girls and not boys. And 1 thing about hormones in milk and beef there is more estrogen like hormones in 1lb of soy beans than there is in 1lb of beef or a 2gallons of milk. And they only get mor concentrated when they make other soy products.

mica178

There have been well conducted studies that show that when your attention is divided while you're eating (eating while driving or watching TV), you eat more.  Theoretically, children would eat less overall if they ate at the family table.  Also, there's the issue of fruits and vegetables.  When Mom and Dad aren't watching over little Danny's plate, he's more likely to push aside the stuff he doesn't want to eat and focus on the meat and starch.

Obesity in boys can actually lead to feminization of their features.  That's not good either.  Imagine being a preteen boy with breast tissue?

It's all scary.  Imagine being 8 and having your first period.  Or going bra shopping at 7.

awolfe2

I work in a developmental psychology research lab and we do some biological measures. It's scary how many 12 yr old girls that I work with don't know what "menstruation" or "month periods" means. I applaud the moms on here who had their talk with their daughers a little early. I feel awful for these girls who are going to be surprised by this change.
And puberty is triggered by different hormones in girls and boys, so it makes sense that girls might be hitting it earlier, but not boys.

tayylor65

I truly think it's directly related to the foods we eat today. While we didn't grow up in the country to the extent where it was a 30 min drive to the nearest grocery store, we did grow up out in horse country surrounded by lots of fields, etc.  We ate local meat and eggs from farmers our family knew and my uncle where it was all natural with no hormones.  We also had balanced dinners every night of a meat, a starch, and a green.  

I got my period at 15 and my body's just now (at 22) finished changing.  My face has narrowed/matured so much in the past year my fiance doesn't even recognize me from pictures taken freshman/sophomore year of college. 

mma3

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_girls-hitting-puberty-younger?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:a2dbdc76-6ee9-4b27-bb7b-e5c78992941ePost:213504d3-2b03-40f5-8490-486d42979e87">Re: Girls hitting puberty younger</a>:
[QUOTE]There have been well conducted studies that show that when your attention is divided while you're eating (eating while driving or watching TV), you eat more.  Theoretically, children would eat less overall if they ate at the family table.  Also, there's the issue of fruits and vegetables.  When Mom and Dad aren't watching over little Danny's plate, he's more likely to push aside the stuff he doesn't want to eat and focus on the meat and starch. Obesity in boys can actually lead to feminization of their features.  That's not good either.  Imagine being a preteen boy with breast tissue? It's all scary.  Imagine being 8 and having your first period. <strong> Or going bra shopping at 7.
</strong>Posted by mica178[/QUOTE]


I was really shocked when I had to take her last year for a training bra.  Even scarier is the fact that I think she is on track to possibly wear a "real" bra by Christmas. 

Bride127

I got my first period at the age of 9.  I was not overweight by any means.  I ate dinner with my family every night, and we had very healthy meals that my mom cooked from scratch.  I think I developed early because of whatever hormones there are out there.  I drank LOTS of milk as a kid... like 3 or 4 glasses a day.  I didn't eat much meat as a kid, so I don't think that was causing it.   

lizr7313

My thoughts on obesity impacting this revolves around fat tissue containing aromatase, which converts steroids to estrogen.  Thus, the more fat tissue that these girls have, the higher their levels of estrogen.

ETA: Didn't see the post by Aggie... agree.

damaless

There's sooo much messed up reasoning about causation when it comes to puberty.  For a long time it was thought that having a stepdad in the house CAUSED girls to hit puberty earlier.  In fact, it's indirect: 

- women who have remarried are more likely to have married young the first time
- women who hit puberty early are more likely to marry young
- women who hit puberty early are more likely to have daughters who hit puberty early