"Little Women"

I was given a case study in my anatomy class and I thought I would share with you my pure shock. Entitled Little Women, this article is about more and more girls starting puberty before they even hit the 4th grade (about age 8). My thoughts on this was always, "Its the milk and chicken... if the companies pump them full of hormones, naturally they pass to the child, making them develop younger." I was shocked to read that this was one of the theories explaining younger puberty, but NOT the main one. Tell me what you think after you read this.

These days we cant blame the MTV network or other provocative clothing for our children's development."Preteen girls who have not yet outgrown their BRATZ and American Girl doll are being fitted for their first bras, scrubbing away acne, even going to school with pads in their backpack to deal with periods that are increasingly starting in fourth grade or earlier" You re probably asking me, "Honestly, what is the big deal with developing younger?"

Food for thought:

These girls who are "growing up too fast" are breaking down even faster. The cancer risks become higher when their bodies are exposed to hormones early on, and finally unwanted attention from boys. While their bodies continue to develop yet have the mindset of a 9-year-old, how does a girl keep up? "I recently treated a 6 1/2 year old who was already developing breasts and pubic hair." says a pediatric endocrinologist at Mt.Sinai Medical Center. "She would get into a bathing suit at camp, and the other kids would tease her. She was already a good deal taller than her peers, and adults and would talk to her as if she was older and more mature- and expect more-mature behavior out of her too."

Is it really a big change?

Establishing a girls first period throughout time is VERY difficult since it depends on so much. General health, nutrition, social class and other external factors play a large role. In previous years when women were not living as long, having a period younger was necessary. By the 1980's, as girls were still having a early period, scientists began to worry that it wasn't biological anymore- something else must be influencing this. In a 1997 study of 17,000 girls, scientist found these results:

• More than 10% of Caucasian girls and 37.8% of African American girls were showing breast development by age 8.
• 5% Caucasian and 15% African Americans showed breast budding at age 7.
• In a later studies, 1998 and 2010, showed Hispanic girls produced similar results.

So, A N Y idea what is doing this?

The article first goes into detail about how exactly puberty starts- while it is unknown how and why exactly it starts... this is what happens: The Hypothalamus, which is located in the brain, starts to produce something known as Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone (GnRH), which then signals the pituitary gland to produce two other things: Luteinizing Hormone (LH) and Follicle-Stimulating Hormone, which are then poured into the bloodstream and the body is beginning puberty. Its easy from here... these substance then start producing ovaries and testes which then produce estrogen and testosterone. 

Obesity...?

Most likely the best theory scientists have for explaining this. With about 1/3 of US children overweight or obese, some correlations were starting to be made. So if cheap, processed food is the culprit, this then leads to social class somehow affecting this, right? The richer you are, the better the diet and overall wellness you will typically have (opposite goes for lower class citizens). So this sounds like a pretty good theory right? Until scientists remembered this big place called EUROPE. In Europe, the standard living has always been relatively high and diets rarely change. A study in Denmark revealed that girls were having breast developing around age 8. Oh okay, that just through a bump in the road. 

Environment...?

"BPA free"-- we all try and buy this now, but what exactly is it? Bisphenol A. That sounds healthy right?... NOT. This is known to disrupt the endocrine system. 

The cows...? The food?

Okay, so maybe it is the cows? Maybe my theory holds true? If you are pumping these cows with hormones to fatten them, ultimately our families are drinking/eating these. Then there is our favorite little thing called soy. If you remember from my previous post, soy contains these properties know as Isofavones which will mimic the behavior of estrogen.

Mom...?

Of course genetics gets thrown in there as well. If mom started developing early, wont her daughter do the same? Cysts found on ovaries are the OBVIOUS factor know to cause early puberty. This will cause premature release of hormones. What about McCune-Albright syndrome? "Caused by a mutation in the gene that signals endocrine cells, can lead to a suite of symptoms including precocious puberty. An enzyme malfunction that causes overproduction of androgens by the adrenal glands can also result in precocious puberty in boys." --TIME

L A S T but not least...

I found this to be quite disturbing. The CDC conducted a study to find that the blood of an average American contains about 212 different chemicals... things such as arsenic and cadmium, while 93% of Americans have traces of BPA in their urine. All of these can be known to disrupt the endocrine system by either blocking hormones or mimicking them. Kinda scary huh?

Honestly, all the theories sound perfectly acceptable to me. The thing is, I'm not sure if I just cant remember or it didn't happen... but girls in my 3rd and 4th grade class were not developing like this! Maybe I was in purely oblivious or maybe this is something that is following the times. Whatever it is, I find this so interesting. Who's to say that the future "puberty age" wont be 6, maybe 5? For now, it stands at 8. SCARY.

Happy Hump Day!