early puberty

A colleague recently informed me that her niece, Kayla, just got her first training bra – but Kayla is only six years old. A photograph of Kayla captured the smile of a chubby, young girl that towered over her peers. Though Kayla is at the same psychological level as her classmates, her body is maturing at a faster rate as she deals with the early onset of puberty.

Kayla is certainly not alone. More and more girls are beginning to show signs of puberty earlier than previously recorded. In 1997, Herman-Giddens performed a study that confirmed breast development began younger than what had been considered the norm. She found that girls began developing breasts at the age of 9, two years earlier than the previously accepted age of 11.

Developed Nations Have Earlier Ages for Puberty

Parents, doctors and researchers are now trying to determine why girls are showing signs of puberty at such a young age. In 1998, research published in The American Journal of Epidemiology by the World Health Organization showed that menarche varied globally, with women in developing countries starting their periods at a later age than women in industrialized nations.
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