What are the suspected causes of early puberty in girls?
Obesity: The increased obesity rates are believed to play a key role in early puberty since body fat can produce sex hormones. Environmental effects: Many researchers also suspect that environmental chemicals that mimic the effects of estrogen — including pesticides and endocrine-disrupting chemicals like bisphenol A, commonly found in plastics, and phthalates — may be speeding up puberty. “It’s certainly throwing up a warning flag,” Dr. Biro also told the NYT. “I think we need to think about the stuff we’re exposing our bodies to and the bodies of our kids. This is a wake-up call, and I think we need to pay attention to it.” What are the biggest risks with early puberty in girls? Physical: Earlier puberty can amount to a slight increase in breast cancer risk. This is most likely due to the fact that earlier first menstruation means a longer lifetime exposure to the hormones estrogen and progesterone, which can feed some tumors. Social and emotional: Early physical development in gir
