Why Are Girls Hitting Puberty at 7 Years Old?
Most 7-year-old girls in the U.S. have interests related to Disney princesses, Littlest Pet Shop, and Polly Pockets. They are just a little older than a Kindergartner, and not even close to being pre-teens. However, some of these little girls are experiencing something they shouldn’t be experiencing for at least another 3-4 years; the onset of puberty. The journal Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, recently published a new study regarding the earlier onset of puberty in some American girls. Typically, U.S. girls hit puberty around age 10 or 11. “In this multisite study, there was substantial agreement regarding pubertal staging between examiners across sites. The proportion of girls who had breast development at ages 7 and 8 years, particularly among white girls, is greater than that reported from studies of girls who were born 10 to 30 years earlier.” -Journal Pediatrics Studies have shown an increased risk of breast cancer for females who experien
