Puberty is starting earlier

[EdinburghFeminist]

I thought this was very interesting (and quite scary, particularly as someone with a 4yo girl). Puberty is starting significantly earlier and no-one knows exactly why but there is also an increase in mental health issues associated in girls who start puberty early.

www.facebook.com/316489315054055/posts/5091329927569946/?d=n

Periods are not disgusting, but they sure can feel disgusting, especially to a 8 or 9 year old child who has awful cramps and heavy bleeding from a part of their body that they don't even fully understand.

This is what I don't understand, I don't leak piss or shit, I have control over them.

I actually take offense at internalised self hatred I have none of the sort. I can feel amazed by my fertility, I can appreciate my female body, but I can equally be disgusted that I have to clean loo seats and floors and my hands because of the volume of uncontrollable blood. Part of why I feel the need to protect woman's spaces and woman's sport is because of impact that periods (and pregnancy) have on women. You can not identify into being a woman, nor identify out of it.

This article is interesting.

The Last Word On Nothing | The Historically Slippery Age of Puberty

www.lastwordonnothing.com/2018/01/02/the-historically-slippery-age-of-puberty/

Ooh, that is interesting, thanks Scrolling.

Living with a non blood related adult results on average in an earlier puberty. Google puberty in adopted children. So does stress and poverty. So does sexual abuse. More children are living with step parents or parents partners. Many children are stressed. Their body reacts to the stress or the assault by quickening adulthood for self preservation presumably.

My 9 year old is tall but skinny. You can see her ribs. She's definitely been in puberty for a year now, has underarm and public hair, breasts and spots.

I doubt it'll be a year before her period starts. I'm worried about her shes emotionally still very young and getting her to wash is a daily battle.

My 9 year old is tall but skinny. You can see her ribs. She's definitely been in puberty for a year now, has underarm and public hair, breasts and spots.

I doubt it'll be a year before her period starts. I'm worried about her shes emotionally still very young and getting her to wash is a daily battle.

There is quite a lot out there to read. Basically, it is down to nutrition, not necessarily weight. In history the average age is always distorted by the large differences in nutrition between the classes. The upper classes, better nutrition, had earlier menstruation, the lower classes, later. So the average of 12-14 masks the fact that in a quote I can't find now "nobility were observed to have several children, before the lower classes had even started menstruation", or something along those lines.

Now higher income/ better nutrition = less likely to be overweight too, speaking generally. So I wonder if differentiating studies have been made?

My missus is an infant teacher and has been saying this for years now.

That's infant/Junior btw

I started periods at primary school, think I was ten but it was 3rd year juniors so year 5 now and I could have been nine. I was very thin so it wasn't weight with me. That was almost 60 years ago so I think there has always been variation.

I read somewhere it’s starting earlier because of all the fast food, I wouldn’t be to OTT about it and I think it starts at around 9 now at earliest, it causes mental health problems I assume as boys in mixed schools yet don’t understand and misogyny (usually from fathers) gets funnelled down to their sons who end up being horrible. Just keep in mind it isn’t happening to everyone and “late bloomers” still exist. All you can do is educate her well if school doesn’t and just generally be supportive.