Why more girls are experiencing earlier puberty

[ArabellaScott]

An interesting (and long) article in the New Yorker. Seems the pandemic may have had an effect on puberty onset.

www.newyorker.com/science/annals-of-medicine/why-more-and-more-girls-are-hitting-puberty-early

Very long article but i definitely think puberty is happening earlier for many. The link between high BMI and early puberty is interesting, I wondered if there was a link.

Yes I haven’t read the above article but since diets improved puberty has decreased from an average age of 17 to 12. 17 is pre industrial revolution in most places. It decreased drastically through the 20th century in many societies. I believe there are records from some Scandinavian countries that show it very clearly.

I've heard how we used to start our periods much later which is true, but longer ago than people think. Even the esteemed Elaine Miller said that the drop in the average age to around 12 is recent but I see no evidence for this.

I'm late 60s, started periods at 12 as did most of my class mates. Anecdotal, I know, but I do believe this 'periods started at 17' was in the Victorian era or before.

I was 16 but one if the last. I remember it being around 14 for most at school.

I was 14 and one of the last in my class. It was around 2007 my DD who's 9 has just started developing breast buds.

I did mention “pre industrial revolution” the industrial revolution came later in different places and also the diversity of more trade and more food sources. It’s still very recent historically.

It is disturbing that James Tanner photographed very vulnerable, orphaned children - with I assume no parents to protect and supervise (or refuse) - naked every 3 months to measure the development of puberty. As an orphan myself I find that extremely disturbing.

I read some years ago that once BMI/body fat reaches a certain level, periods start.
An article in the Times last week said that 28% of British adults are classified as obese. Alarming.

In at least one part of Indian in the 1990s the average age of first menarch was 16.
sg.theasianparent.com/indian-kids-hitting-puberty-early

Opps forgot quote, a Dr says it has decreased from 16 to as low as 9 since the 1990s.

“Dr Parminder Singh, Endocrinologist, Ludhiana, told Mid-Day, "In the 1990s, menarche occurred among girls at age 16. This age has come down drastically, and nowadays anxious parents come to us when their daughters show signs of premature puberty at age 9 or 10. Cases of male children being diagnosed with gynaecomastia (breast enlargement) are on the rise."

In the UK there's also the problem of contraceptive pill residues in drinking water. There have been sufficient residues in rivers to make trout hermaphrodite. Must be having an effect on girls, too.

At least here in the USA where many chemicals have been released to be used without long term testing, the massive increase in chemicals in our environment, water and food, not to say all the minute plastic particles that we are all ingesting has known and unknown effects.

You have to be careful with averages. For many hundreds of years, the average was not so different from today 12-14. However, this is skewed by the wealthy v. poor. Those that were fed well, and led gentle lives had higher body fat, started their periods earlier, the poor had less to eat and worked harder, and therefore had very low body fat, and started their periods later.

Interesting read, thank you @ArabellaScott .
historically menses started equally early 12ish BUT frequent famine stopped regular periods.
what I found interesting in the article was the use of Lupron to allow the girls to reach full height.
suggesting that allowing early menses to be accepted without challenge could have long term height implications.

I don’t know what country he’s talking about , but in uk I got my period at 11 and wasn’t the first. I was born in 1960s so this was mid 70s. My best friend ( who was and still is tiny) was the last in the year at 15.5. Most girls had periods by 13.
I don’t know where his stats come from- But in uk average age has not been 16 for many many years
it is well known improved diet means puberty starts earlier. In developing countries in 1990s then 16 may have been normal average age… but not in uk
just a quick look on line says girls typical age now is 12, which is about 1 year earlier than 1970s. But in Nepal for instance, average age is still 16.

Surely this means that menopause will come earlier? Women who start their periods so early will need ti consider this if they want children.

My mum is in her 70s and started her period at 11 as did I and as did my dd.

Do different countries have different average ages for puberty?

Henry VII was born to a mother aged twelve ( although she never conceived again) in 1487. Two hundred years earlier, King John’s wife Isabella was ‘marriageable’ at 13. Both of these girls would have been well fed, with plenty of protein in their diet.

I remember watching a documentary about very poor people abroad who were in the habit of force feeding girls very high calorie diets to make them fat and sexually mature sooner so they could offer them for marriage ( sell them) its been a practice for centuries so they must have known the link a long time ago.
also it’s known there’s a link between oestrogen and BMI . So it totally makes sense that heavier girls will likely reach puberty sooner.
I also think artificial hormones in meat and second hand contraceptives might also be at play.

I’m tall and started at just before I was 12 nearly 40 years ago. I would say 1-2 years before most of my friends started. I thought the reason I was earlier was because I was taller.

45kg is what I remember as the point at which periods start in average, rather than age. It was right for me.

Runover yes, the photographing of orphans was a disturbing note in the article.

I suspect that's it @Thirder . It's weight, and the proportion of that weight that is fat, that is a much better guide than age.

I have a very sporty and fit DD13. Her period started at 11. She is coeliac and interestingly her consultant years ago told us to be in the lookout for earlier puberty as her diet would impact on this. She eats a very protein rich diet.

Poor DD started her period at 10. She's very slim but tall - 5'2 already. She's also autistic so it's not like she didn't already have enough to contend with. She's coped admirably though (and period pants are a godsend).

I'm in my early 60s (when did that happen? ), was very slim when I was young (right up to my early 30s) and got my first period when I was about 12 - as did most of my friends.