A US study shows that almost one in four black girls and one in 10 white girls have developed breasts by the age of seven.
The findings are the latest in a string of studies showing that girls in the US are reaching puberty sooner, with implications both for the social and emotional wellbeing of girls, as well as for their physical health in later life. Early maturation has been shown to cause low self-esteem and doubts about body image, as well as greater rates of eating problems, depression and attempted suicide.
It is linked to earlier sexual experiences, and later on carries greater risks of breast cancer. The researchers found that at the age of seven, 23.4 percent of black girls, 14.9 percent of Hispanics and 10.4 percent of white girls had developed breasts.
A similar survey completed in 1997 found the proportion of white girls who had developed breasts by seven was 5 percent — half of what it is today. The proportion of black girls in that bracket has also shot up in the past decade, from 15 percent in 1997 to 23 percent today.
Studies have shown that in the 1700s girls began menstruation on average at about age 17 to 18, though that might be as much to do with widespread malnutrition as with other factors.
Experts point to several possible causes of the declining age of puberty. Top of the list is obesity, as excessive body fat is understood to increase the levels of estrogen that play a role in breast growth. Other areas of concern include environmental factors. Prime among those are chemicals known as endocrine disrupters that act on hormones to change bodily functions.
The study, published in the journal Pediatrics and led by a team from the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Medical Center, was based on 1,239 girls aged six to eight. The sample was drawn from three areas in the US: New York’s East Harlem, Cincinnati and San Francisco.
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