The onset of puberty has fallen by more than five years in girls – with experts blaming kids’ unhealthy lifestyles for it.
Some girls are only six or seven years old when they have to cope with their first period, the Sun reported.
A US study has found that boys are also hitting physical maturity two years earlier than they did in the past.
Scientists found that the average age for the onset of puberty in girls was 16.6 years in 1860.
But by 1920 it was 14.6, in 1950, 13.1, in 1980, 12.5 and in 2010 it had decreased to 10.5.
Experts fear that this problem could lead to an increase in young girls getting pregnant.
Marcia Herman-Giddens, from the University of North Carolina where the latest research was carried out, claimed that obesity may well to be blame as it alters the body’s hormones — with some starting to show the first signs of maturity as young as six.
The average age for white and Hispanic boys is 10, while it is 9 for black boys.
Tam Fry, honorary chairman of the UK’s Child Growth Foundation, has explained this as a “ticking timebomb” for today’s society.
We have a joke in my house that whenever the boys are out of sorts, we attribute it to puberty. It turns out, this might not be so funny. New research shows that boys, like girls, are reaching puberty earlier—as young as 9 in some cases.
A study released this month by the American Academy of Pediatrics found that boys are starting puberty nearly two years earlier than boys did a generation ago. The study analyzed reports from more than 200 doctors in 41 states who examined more than 4,000 boys during wellness checkups. Half the boys were white, one-quarter were African-American, and one-quarter were Hispanic. The average age of puberty for white and Hispanic boys was 10. The average age for African-American boys was 9.
The researchers don’t know why this is happening. They speculated it could be obesity, less physical activity, or chemicals in the food we eat. And the long-term health implications are also unknown.
This raises all sorts of issues. In many state schools, health classes don’t discuss sexual issues until the kids are in the fifth grade. But by then, many of these boys and girls have already reached puberty. And if kids are reaching sexual maturity earlier, how do we keep them from acting on their impulses before they are emotionally ready to handle an intimate relationship?
Raging hormones are no laughing matter.