Hot on HuffPost Parents:
Cassandra Scrimgeour: When Is the "Right Time" for a Baby?
Significant Wage Gap Between Working Moms And Working Women
More Girls Entering Puberty Early, Study Finds
Filed under: Nutrition: Health, Medical Conditions, In The News, Feeding & Sleeping, Special Needs, Alerts & Recalls, Development: Big Kids, Research Reveals: Big Kids, Development: Tweens, Social & Emotional Growth: Tweens, Research Reveals: Tweens, Research Reveals: Teens, Development Health, Expert Advice: Health, Health
Girls are maturing earlier than ever. Credit: Getty Images
Girl, you'll be a woman soon. Sooner than you thought.
A new study finds that U.S. girls are entering puberty at younger ages than in the past. Early maturity is a public health concern because studies have shown that these girls are more likely to eventually develop breast and uterine cancer, CNN reports.
The study finds that nearly 25 percent of black girls and 15 percent of Hispanic girls had entered puberty by age 7. White girls mature more slowly, but the study finds that more than 10 percent of white 7-year-old girls had started puberty by age 7, up from 5 percent in a similar study conducted in the early 1990s, according to CNN.
Dr. Frank Biro, the study's lead author and director of adolescent medicine at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, says it's unclear why girls are entering puberty earlier, but researchers are looking at several potential factors, including genes and environment, Medical News Today reports.
"Breast cancer is such a common problem, so if we can find some of the things that make it more likely, we could improve screening of those early developers," says Dr. Susan Nickel, M.D., an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, who was not part of the study.
The study, published in Pediatrics, is an analysis of data on 1,239 girls between the ages of 6 and 8 from East Harlem in New York, the greater Cincinnati metropolitan area and the San Francisco Bay area in California, Medical News Today reports. The study was conducted in the mid-2000s.
In addition to the health concerns associated with early puberty, there are emotional social ramifications, as well.
"If an 11- or 12-year-old girl looks like she's 16, people will interact with her as if she were 16," Biro says. "Early maturation increases the rate of risk-taking behaviors and lowers academic performance. It doesn't mean it's going to happen, but it could."
The authors noted that the study was not representative of all girls in the United States, and they will continue to study this population, Medical News Today reports.
Related: Who Loves Ya, Baby? Kids of Extra-Affectionate Moms Are Better Adjusted Adults, Study Says
YourVoice
Ask Us Anything About Parenting
Recently Asked
- i have 4 kids single mom. maddy who is 10 katherine who i 9 suzy who is 4 and connor who is 3. i can not potty train connnor and i do not have any mal...
- Summer camp: Good for kids, good for parents?
- I love my 20 year old daughter very much and at times we have a strained relationship. My husband and I recently took our children on an all expenses ...
TheTalkies:RelatedVideos
-
Girls Stay Healthy by Reading
A recent study proves girls can lose weight with reading. Find out how "Lake Rescue" helped tween age girls lose weight and lower their BMI during a Duke University Obesity Study.
-
How a Muslim High School Girl Inspires Education Reporter
In Chapter 1 of 17, Gonen, a New York Post education reporter, shares why the human element in his reporting makes his job so fulfilling. In one instance, a young Bangladesh-born Muslim girl living in New York overcomes family and cultural obstacles to study her passion, biology, while in high school. Gonen details his experience discovering, researching, and writing the story that ultimately ended with the Muslim girl receiving a scholarship to study at Cornell.
-
Keeping Girls in Schools in Turkey
One out of ten children in Turkey are still not studying and almost three quarters are girls. The educational reform only has 8 years of compulsory schooling, but what will happen after the girls are finished with these 8 years?
-
Common Knowledge or Diet Study
http://diet.com Diet.com Video Presents Common knowledge or diet study. Sarah discusses recent studies that may or may not break new barriers in the scientific world of nutrition and weight loss.
SitesWeLove
- Site Map
- |
- Staff
- |
- Terms of Service
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Trademarks
- |
- Advertise With Us
- |
- About Our Ads
- |
- AOL Downloads
- |
- Contact Us
- |
© Copyright 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Aol Family