In a development that is proving confusing for children and disquieting for parents, puberty has been starting to surface earlier in girls. A study in 2 major American cities found pubescent development occurring among 2nd graders, with tell-tale signifiers of impending adolescence like acne and breast budding in girls as young as 7 and 8. While the medical community remains uncertain of the cause the declining age of puberty, the study’s leader suggests that the rise in obesity could be at least partly to blame. Another theory says an incremental exposure to estrogens in plastics and chemicals in foods may also be acting as a veritable puberty flashpoint. Regardless, many families are alarmed. What can be done? Dr. Frank Biro, director of adolescent medicine at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, says that the best way to slow the premature development may be to “start living green.” A healthier diet and a regimen of regular physical activity may be the best means of stabilizing the growth process. As a parent, would you be willing to alter the diet and daily routine of you family life in order to curtail the premature development in your daughters? Or is the advanced encroachment of maturity nothing to worry about? Watch the video below and share your thoughts in the discussion below.
What should parents do to slow early puberty?
In a development that is proving confusing for children and disquieting for parents, puberty has been starting to surface earlier in girls. A study in 2 major American cities found pubescent development occurring among 2nd graders, with tell-tale signifiers of impending adolescence like acne and breast budding in girls as young as 7 and 8.
While the medical community remains uncertain of the c