2 min readNew YorkAug 10, 2010 02:50 AM IST
First published on: Aug 10, 2010 at 02:50 AM IST
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 because 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 womans 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 Childrens Hospital Medical Center,said,I think we need to think about the stuff were 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 7- and 8-year-olds than thought.
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