Puberty Hitting Girls as Young as 4 Years Old

Originally posted by HarlemHottie
Is this just happening to American girls?

Precocious puberty isn't limited to the US. It's happening all over the world.

From an Italian study:

Adopted Indian girls in Sweden are reported to have a significantly lower menarcheal age than either the indigenous population or their upper class Indian peers growing up in India.2 We also have observed increased referrals of such children for precocious puberty; these have all been females, and were mostly adopted from India into Italian families.

Nineteen adopted girls were referred because of signs of precocious pubertal development. All came from developing countries, 15 from India. They arrived in Italy at a mean (SD) age of 4.0 (2.2) years (range 0.33 to 8 years) with evidence of chronic undernutrition. At the first visit, adoptive parents provided data about the country of origin, past medical history, and the habits and conditions of life before and after adoption. Consequently the first signs of puberty were accurately dated.

-snip-

All the girls underwent hormonal investigations (gonadotrophin releasing hormone test, basal oestradiol, and androgens) and radiological imaging (cerebral computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging and pelvic ultrasonography). Mean (SD) serum luteinising hormone after stimulation was 30.2 (20.2) IU/l (in our laboratory, a value > 5 IU/l suggests the onset of puberty). No neurological abnormality was found on radiological imaging. Sixteen subjects were diagnosed as having idiopathic precocious puberty, and three as having early puberty.

Precocious puberty in girls adopted from developing countries

This comes from the Department of Environmental Health, Boston Univeristy School of Public Health:

The age at which pubertal changes occur has declined worldwide over the last few decades. In the Netherlands, the median age for a girl's first menstruation was 13.66years in 1955, 13.40 years in 1965, 13.28 years in 1980,and 13.15 years in 1997 [2]. In Puerto Rico, which has the highest reported incidence of premature breast development, girls less than 2 years of age comprise the majority of precocious puberty cases [3]. As a result of the alarming increase in incidence, Puerto Rico is home to the only world registry for the study of premature sexual development.

Nutrition, physical exercise, and weight are factors associated with the decline in age of pubertal changes. In addition to a global decline in age over time, researchers have observed specific patterns in certain populations. African-American girls tend to reach puberty earlier than other races [4]. The use of hormone-containing hair product has been indicated as one possible factor in precocious puberty in African American girls. [5].

The Effects of Phthalates on Precocious Puberty in Girls - PDF File

Idiopathic seems to be the word of choice when describing the cause of most of the cases, which is a fancy and much more impressive word for 'we don't have a clue'.

Recombinant BGH (another product brought to you by the friendly folks at Monsanto) is injected into maybe half of the dairy cows in the US to stimulate milk production. It's banned in Canada and the EU however, so I don't think a link can be made between rBGH and precocious puberty.

I still don't drink milk when in the US though.

There's a link in my sig which explains in detail what rBGH is and how it stands out from natural hormones, i'm NOT saying this is the reason, mind you, perhaps it's a collective mutation.

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[edit on 1-11-2006 by SpeakerofTruth]

Originally posted by HarlemHottie
I doubt that clothing is causing little girls to menstruate.

I wouldn't suggest that. I suggest that perhaps the reason that it seems like girls are devloping faster is because they are dressing in a way that emphasizes any development.

have a significantly lower menarcheal age than either the indigenous population or their upper class Indian peers growing up in India

India of course is famous for having a long term segregation of its upper and lower classes, via the caste system. Its possible that the lower classes have been pressured to reach reproductive age sooner in order to have higher birthrates.

with evidence of chronic undernutrition

That might also factor in. If they are being stressed, the body's 'reproductive strategy' might be to enter a reproductive age earlier, to ensure that they have offspring.

Didn't see this posted on this thread (so apologize if I missed it) but here's a link to an older thread that touches on these subjects including precocious puberty:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Can't have too much information on this subject.

IMO anyway.

Spiderj

Research: U.S. Boys Also Reaching Puberty Earlier Than In Past Years

"We analyzed data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which were collected in two phases between 1988 and 1994 on 2,114 boys aged 8 to 19 in this country," said Dr. Marcia Herman-Giddens, a researcher affiliated with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "We found that all three groups -- white, African-American and Mexican-American boys -- were significantly taller and heavier for their age than boys in previous studies, which is consistent with earlier puberty."

So it's happening to all the kids. WTH is going on?

This is a reckless statement, but it came to mind.............

Maybe if those of us who are older die of something we were exposed to before the younger ones were born, they are growing up faster in order to reproduce sooner.

Do you have another idea?

Well, we do know that our water is polluted, our oceans are polluted and so is our air. There are all kinds of unknown substances and chemicals everywhere, and its even worse after they mutate because alot of times no one knows exactly what will happen when these various substances come together.

We also know that hormones are fed to chickens, pigs and cows to make them grow faster and therefore make more money for corporate agriculture. They also feed lots of antibiotics to livestock because they're held in such horrible conditions that there immune systems are broken down and they get sick very easily.

One need look no further than this information to know that our planet is not what it was even 30 years ago. It could be any of these things that are affecting young girls.

BTW, on another tack, has anyone noticed that they're making diapers for older and older children now? Even for 7 y.o. They weren't doing that 10 years ago. What's up with that? It runs the opposite of the early maturing girls.

Originally posted by forestlady
has anyone noticed that they're making diapers for older and older children now? Even for 7 y.o. They weren't doing that 10 years ago. What's up with that? It runs the opposite of the early maturing girls.

I have noticed that. Ewww. Imagine changing a 7 year old's diaper...nevermind, you might not want to imagine that.

Yes, something is dreadfully wrong.

Originally posted by Nygdan
Yes, I was wrong. All cow milk contains natural bovine growth hormones. HUmans have been drinking it for eons, it doesn't cause girls to become fertile at age 4.

This is partially true. Yes, humans have been consuming milk of other species for as long as their have been humans... perhaps longer.

However, modern dairy practices have altered the composition of milk considerably. Cows that receive rBGH actually produce significantly elevated levels of most hormones, when I say 'significant,' I mean observed increases of 1600% for example. Most cows on rBGH actually lose body weight, but see an overall increase in organ size relative to their non-rBGH counterparts.

Many of the protein hormone present in cows share 100% amino acid identity with the homologous human hormones. Whether or not this has an effect on the onset of puberty is speculative at best, but is certainly worthy of more than flippant dismissal.

Originally posted by interestedalways
This is a reckless statement, but it came to mind.............

Maybe if those of us who are older die of something we were exposed to before the younger ones were born, they are growing up faster in order to reproduce sooner.

Not reckless, imo.

VERY interesting idea, and certainly reflective of the way nature works.

FYI Nygdan - the 'problem' of early puberty is well established - and much speculation occurs to explain the phenomenon. So while the explanations may be speculative at this point, the phenomenon is not. Many specific agents have been identified, but do not explain all cases. IMO - the 'cause' is multifactorial, ranging from hormones and pseudo hormones to chemical contaminations of our food and water. Similar reproductive mutations are observed in amphibians, fish, polar bears and numerous other animals.

NOTE re: adolescent diapers. Yes - there now is a HUGE industry profiting from the enuresis epidemic - and great array of products. Seems to be the same underlying connective tissue disease in women who require "panty-liners" and children who require nighttime diapers.