Study: U.S. Girls Entering Puberty Earlier
A journalist takes a photo of a displayed skeleton dating back to the Middle Ages and recently unearthed in the Black Sea town of Sozopol, at the National History Museum in Sofia, Thursday, June 14, 2012. Ever since archaeologists announced last week that they had found two ancient skeletons in Bulgaria with iron rods thrust through their chests, the media have been reporting how Bulgarians once did that to prevent the dead from emerging from the grave as vampires. On Saturday, one of those 700-year-old skeletons will be put on display at the National History Museum in Sofia, and its director, Bozhidar Dimitrov, says he expects there to be a big turnout. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova) / Valentina Petrova
Girls in the U.S. are hitting puberty at younger ages, according to new research.
At age 7, about 10 percent of white girls and 23 percent of black girls had started developing breasts, compared to 5 percent of white girls and 15 percent of black girls in 1997, according to a study led by Dr. Frank Biro of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. The results were published Monday in the medical journal Pediatrics.
Biro's team examined about 1,200 girls aged 7 and 8 in Cincinnati, New York and San Francisco.
At age 8, about 18 percent of white girls and 43 percent of black girls had entered puberty, compared to around 11 percent of white girls in 1997, but the same as black girls in that year.
Early puberty in girls is a concern because studies have shown they are more likely to develop breast and uterine cancer later - women who spend more of their lives menstruating have a higher risk of getting breast cancer.
Experts aren't sure what caused the earlier development of puberty.
But another study published Monday in Pediatrics shows that overweight girls are more likely to enter puberty earlier. The study was led by Dr. Mildred Maisonet from Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health and conducted on girls in Great Britain.
"There are a lot of factors at play, but there is growing concern about the environment -- that substances found in certain plastics, like BPAs, and in fertilizers can mimic estrogen in the body and speed up the puberty clock," reports CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton. "Only a theory at this point, but most agree it warrants further study."
According to an article in Health.com, Biro said doctors are also worried about the psychological health of girls who hit early puberty. These girls have been linked to poor self-esteem, eating disorders, depression, as well as cigarette and alcohol use and earlier sexual activity.
"For the 11-year old that looks like she's 15 or 16, adults are going to interact with her like she's 15 or 16, but so are her peers," Biro said in the article. "It doesn't mean that they're psychologically or socially more mature."
To keep Mother Nature on a more natural course, Dr. Ashton advises, "Focus on diet and nutrition to maintain a healthy weight for your kids -- keep them active and don't assume that early puberty or early breast development is the "new normal." If your daughter shows any signs of early puberty, it's always a good idea to have her seen by a doctor."
Copyright 2010 CBS. All rights reserved. At age 7, about 10 percent of white girls and 23 percent of black girls had started developing breasts, compared to 5 percent of white girls and 15 percent of black girls in 1997, according to a study led by Dr. Frank Biro of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. The results were published Monday in the medical journal Pediatrics.
Biro's team examined about 1,200 girls aged 7 and 8 in Cincinnati, New York and San Francisco.
At age 8, about 18 percent of white girls and 43 percent of black girls had entered puberty, compared to around 11 percent of white girls in 1997, but the same as black girls in that year.
Early puberty in girls is a concern because studies have shown they are more likely to develop breast and uterine cancer later - women who spend more of their lives menstruating have a higher risk of getting breast cancer.
Experts aren't sure what caused the earlier development of puberty.
But another study published Monday in Pediatrics shows that overweight girls are more likely to enter puberty earlier. The study was led by Dr. Mildred Maisonet from Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health and conducted on girls in Great Britain.
"There are a lot of factors at play, but there is growing concern about the environment -- that substances found in certain plastics, like BPAs, and in fertilizers can mimic estrogen in the body and speed up the puberty clock," reports CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton. "Only a theory at this point, but most agree it warrants further study."
According to an article in Health.com, Biro said doctors are also worried about the psychological health of girls who hit early puberty. These girls have been linked to poor self-esteem, eating disorders, depression, as well as cigarette and alcohol use and earlier sexual activity.
"For the 11-year old that looks like she's 15 or 16, adults are going to interact with her like she's 15 or 16, but so are her peers," Biro said in the article. "It doesn't mean that they're psychologically or socially more mature."
To keep Mother Nature on a more natural course, Dr. Ashton advises, "Focus on diet and nutrition to maintain a healthy weight for your kids -- keep them active and don't assume that early puberty or early breast development is the "new normal." If your daughter shows any signs of early puberty, it's always a good idea to have her seen by a doctor."
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I notice the article failed to mention of boys were seeing changes in the age of puberty. If it has to do with environmental factors like chemicals and female hormones in the food/water supply, then boys should be starting later. They could also be expected to develop feminine traits like breasts and suffering from any number of gender disorders. If boys are starting earlier too and developing normally, then maybe it is a natural phenomenon. I?m just waiting for the uber-conservatives to claim that homosexuality is caused by hormones in the food. Then again they couldn?t do that because it might cause a slight dip in profits for their corporate mega-food friends if they couldn't keep using the hormones.
If one has learned anything from the latest Census one has learned this: the word "Hispanic," including the political use of the word, does not in any way equate to race, so therefore any study that purports to group people under that word for the purpose of painting everyone in the group as being behaviorally or biologically the same is flawed, therefore all results relating to that group are FALSE.
Katie Couric, just because you are privilege to be a journalist does not mean that you are privilege to coin a stereotype of the word "Hispanic." The premise in your story is clear: Individuals politically labeled "Hispanic" are all biologically and behaviorally the same. There is no wiggle room ... journalistic integrity requires that you NOT stereotype in such a way. I have no doubt that you know that Latin Americans are as diverse as non Latin Americans and I likewise have no doubt that you know that whenever Latin Americans reside in the United States no magic happens that somehow unifies everyone's biology as well as everyone's behavior.
Katie, the on-air conversation both you and Dr. Ashton were having was chalk-full of gross erroneous generalizations that could easily be described as bigoted. Over and over Dr. Ashton kept saying "we know..."we know." Such flawed generalization eerily reminded me of the "learned" doctors in Nazi Germany who also generalized about "certain" artificial groups.
Katie, haven't you ever wondered why we have preserved the historical meaning of the word "Anglo" in Anglo-America while at the same time destroying the historical meaning of the word "Hispanic"? I know you know that both words historically mean white European, and both words have a proud history of accomplishments. I also know you know that the Census made it quite clear that one cannot biologically group people under the rubric "Hispanic."
In the end, this so called "study" concluded nothing correct about girls politically labeled "Hispanic," instead, this study opened the door to bigoted dialogues that are now making the making the national news rounds.