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Puberty seen in girls as young as 7 and 8 yrs, says study (The Indian Express-10 August
2010)

Obesity is thought to play a major role, some blame environmental chemicals that mimic
estrogen

A NEW study finds that girls are more likely today than in the past to start developing breasts by
age 7 or 8. Obesity is thought to play a major role, because body fat can produce sex hormones.
Researchers also suspect that environmental chemicals that mimic the effects of estrogen may be
the cause.

Studies suggest that earlier puberty, as measured by the age at first menstruation, can slightly
increase the risk of breast cancer, probably be cause it results in longer exposure to hormones
estrogen and progesterone, which can feed some tumors.

Although the study did not look at menstrual age, breast growth is also a sign of hormone
exposure, and some researchers fear that early development might also mean an increased cancer
risk. Emotionally, life can be difficult for a girl who has a woman's body and she is not ready to
deal with sexual advances or cope with her own sexual impulses.
Dr Frank M Biro, the first author of the study and director of adolescent medicine at Cincinnati
Children's Hos pital Medical Center, said, "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."

Overweight girls were more likely to have more breast development, the study showed. Dr
Catherine Gordon, a pediatric endocrinologist, said neither breast development nor menstrual age
had changed for white girls of normal weight. The new study included 1,239 girls ages 6 to 8.
The group was 30 per cent each white, black and Hispanic, and about 5 per cent Asian.
At 7 years, 10.4 per cent of white, 23.4 per cent of black and 14.9 per cent of Hispanic girls had
enough breast development to be considered at the onset of puberty. At age 8, the figures were
18.3 per cent in whites, 42.9 per cent in blacks and 30.9 per cent in Hispanics. The percentages
for blacks and whites were higher than those found by a 1997 study.

The debate started with a study published in 1997 in which pediatricians around the country
rated sexual maturation in 17,077 girls ages 3 to 12. The study found that breasts and pubic hair
were far more common in 7and 8year-olds than thought.