Just
when we thought that adolescent girls had enough challenges (social norms,
media images, emotional and physical changes), new research points to a larger
and broader issue: early onset of puberty.
Armpit
and pubic hair, pimples, starting menstruation, and breast budding are known
physical signs of puberty in girls. In 1800, these changes began in girls
at around age 17. In 1960, the changes were beginning around age
14. Now, most commonly, puberty in girls begins at age 11.
Kathy
Nesteby, Coordinator for the Iowa Task Force for Young Women with the Iowa
Department of Human Rights, recently authored a newsletter on this very
issue. She notes the additional challenges this factor presents:
Girls
who develop breasts and other physical characteristics of maturation at an
early age are more likely to date at a younger age as well. Cognitive and
emotional development trails behind physical development in all adolescents,
but is more pronounced for those with early on-set puberty. As a result, this
young woman has less capacity to resist pressure from an older boyfriend to
become involved in delinquent or other risky behaviors than she would if she
were older. Likewise, she may lack the sophistication to resist the influence
of peers who perceive her to be older.
Her
relationship with her parents and community are also significant. Puberty often
signals an increase in conflict with parents, as girls begin to assert their
independence. A girl displaying the physical signs of maturation, may
experience an increase in expectations about her maturity in general, for which
she does not yet have the capacity. Additionally, if her parents use harsh and
inconsistent discipline, she is even more at-risk for developing behavioral
problems.
Nesteby
notes that a recent article in The New York Times (March 30, 2012) cites
research done by medical professionals in seeking answers for this anomaly:
In
the late 1980s, Marcia
Herman-Giddens, then a physician’s associate in the pediatric department of the
Duke University Medical Center, started noticing that an awful lot of 8- and
9-year-olds in her clinic had sprouted pubic hair and breasts. She started
collecting data, eventually leading a study with the American Academy of
Pediatrics that sampled 17,000 girls, finding that among white girls, the
average age of breast budding was 9.96. Among black girls, it was 8.87.
When
Herman-Giddens published these numbers, in 1997 in Pediatrics, she set off a
social and endocrinological firestorm. “I had no idea it would be so huge,”
Herman-Giddens told me recently. “The Lolita syndrome” — the prurient
fascination with the sexuality of young girls — “created a lot of emotional
interest. As a feminist, I wish it didn’t.” Along with medical professionals,
mothers, worried about their daughters, flocked to Herman-Giddens’s slide
shows, gasping as she flashed images of possible culprits: obesity, processed
foods, plastics.
…Was
the age of puberty really dropping? Parents said yes. Leading
pediatric endocrinologists said no. The stalemate lasted …years. Then in
August 2010, well-respected researchers at three big institutions — Cincinnati
Children’s Hospital, Kaiser Permanente of Northern California and Mount Sinai
School of Medicine in New York — published another study in Pediatrics,
finding that by age 7, 10% of white girls, 23% of black girls, 15% of Hispanic
girls and 2% of Asian girls had started developing breasts.
Why
is this happening? Physicians don’t yet understand the reasons, but do
suspect several contributing factors. Being overweight (heavier girls
have higher levels of hormones including estrogen, which causes the body to
mature quicker). In addition, animal studies show that exposure to
environmental chemicals that mimic estrogen – including those used in
agriculture and livestock production – can alter puberty timing. And the
chemical BPA (now found in hard plastics and common products such as dental
sealants and cash-register receipts) that mimics estrogen is now found in the
bodies of 93% of Americans. Other causes can include family stress,
maternal depression, and divorce.
What
can we do about this issue? Nesteby advises:
Assuring
that girls are getting plenty of exercise, eating a healthy diet and not being
overexposed to hormone disrupting chemicals are a good place to start…Offering
adequate and timely support is crucial as well. For adult women, who may
not have begun to mature until much later, it may be a matter of not assuming
the 9 year old you are interacting with has years to go before puberty hits.
She may need your guidance now! Adults must also refrain from any
inadvertent tendency to treat girls as more mature than they might actually be
based solely on their appearance.
All
the more important are our efforts to reach girls early through Chrysalis
After-School programs. Helping girls understand their own bodies and
minds, and supporting their physical and mental health is key – our new
GIRLSTRONG! programming around healthy lifestyles is a major effort throughout
all 29 Chrysalis After-School locations. And having this information
helps us address emerging concerns for all girls and women.
Thank
you for your leadership in this work.
To
review The New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/magazine/puberty-before-age-10-a-new-normal.html?_r=1
