Stretch marks on children

[mammya]

My dd 7 is above the 98th centile for both height and weight. She is neither fat nor skinny, perhaps a little plump round the middle but nothing abnormal for a 7 year old (except that she is the size of a 9 year old, lol). This has been confirmed by a nurse. Yet she is getting stretch marks on her hips.

Both her father and I have stretch marks, most of mine were acquired at puberty and I guess her father's too. So the poor girl has probably got a genetic predisposition to stretchmarks anyway. Could it be a sign of puberty starting already? Is it possible that young? Should I worry?

Have any of you got any experience of this? Any input appreciated!

Oh really? that seems really young...

What book is that?

DD (12) is of an average height and weight, wearing either ladies size 6 clothes or childrens age 12 clothes. She has stretch marks too accross her hips.

I read recently that the average girl is likely to start her periods when she reaches around seven and a half stones.

So with the population becoming fatter,this would account for girls seemingly starting their periods earlier.

My DD is not fat!

Thanks Ruby.

Frankie, as I said, my dd isn't fat either!

Ds has stretch marks and he is only 3. Definitely not overweight, I think they are just caused by growing.

I did not say anyone's dc was fat!!!

Stretch marks caused by fast growth, I thought, so the skin has less time to stretch slowly. I was not saying children must be fat if they have stretch marks.

I have stretch marks and am not fat.
In fact, everyone I know has them.

I simply said that the population is becoming fatter, and this could be causing puberty to begin sooner.

Does she also have loose ligaments? bruise easily? heal badly? scar? get sore legs?if so it could be Ehlers-Danlos..unlikely but worth a mention.

I was on a short course of corticosteroids as a child and got puffy and stretch marks on my hips. (Whereas four pregnancies in my thirties didn't do that to me.)

No Mindfulmama, I haven't noticed any of these things. Thanks though.

Poor you Cristina, that is just not fair!

I have read up on early puberty and apparently there are 5 stages to puberty called the Tanner stages. Stage 1, which is actually pre-puberty, takes place between 8-10 years. So as dd is the size of a 9 year old, it's not so freaky that she should go through it already.

On the other hand she's still so young, it seems wrong somehow.