New study: Girls becoming more likely to develop breasts by age 7 or 8

[Newsjock]

Source: New York Times

A new study finds that girls are more likely today than in the past to start developing breasts by age 7 or 8.

The research is just the latest in a flood of reports over the last decade that have led to concern and heated debate about whether girls are reaching puberty earlier, and why it might be happening.

Increased rates of obesity are thought to play a major role, because body fat can produce sex hormones. Some researchers also suspect that environmental chemicals that mimic the effects of estrogen may be speeding up the clock on puberty, but that idea is unproved.

The issue is of concern for both medical and psychosocial reasons. 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 lifetime exposure to the hormones estrogen and progesterone, which can feed some tumors.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/health/research/09puberty.html

[EFerrari]

1. There was a report a few months ago about little girls getting their menses earlier

because of their diets and for the life of me, now I can't remember what the deal was.

[TheDebbieDee]

2. I think it's because of the hormones being fed to cows so they'll produce

more milk. All this stuff moves UP the foodchain, you know. I also agree that this is the reason why so many of us Americans are so overweight.

[edgineered]

5. milk should not be on the open market

at least not be as readily available as it is. the whole concept is flawed, from the need for constantly lactating cows to the number of adults washing down their red meat dinners with glass after glass of something whose natural purpose is solely for immature animals until they can feed on their own. but, the dairy industry is big bucks; spilling hormones instead of oils, pollutants, nuclear waste or some other unnatural contaminants.

[MajorChode]

13. The concept of eating fruits and vegetables is largely flawed as well

Many fruits and vegetables propagate by having their seeds processed through the gastrointestinal tract of animals and hairless apes and having them deposit those processed seeds (along with the accompanying fertilizer) in an area where they can reproduce. So unless you are taking a shit in your backyard, you are not using those things in a manner for which they were intended.

[Horse with no Name]

8. Yep.

I read a study on this last year and it definitely plays a role.

[TheWraith]

25. Nope. The declining age of puberty in girls has been happening for 100 years, actually.

Nobody actually knows why.

[JI7]

3. so these are mostly kids who are obese ?

[SwampG8r]

4. probably so

i am no expert but i am married to one and she says body fat and hormones are tied together here

[Abq_Sarah]

16. Leptin is secreted by fat cells

In girls, higher levels trigger early puberty.

[elleng]

6. 'Environmental chemicals' all over the damn place.

:thumbsdown:

[Iggo]

7. It's the McNuggets, man.

I can't prove it. But it's the McNuggets. I'm sure of it.

[MajorChode]

9. It's the aliens

It's part of their nefarious plan to completely remake our entire planet in their own image. GMO, BGH, and McNuggets are only a small portion of their grand scheme. The government has been surpressing this evidence for decades, but it's all over the interwebs if you care to look for it. Only those who regularly wear Class III or higher boron group headgear are capable of seeing the real truth. :tinfoilhat:

[Ron Green]

11. Well, that's a helpful post.

:crazy: :crazy: :crazy:

[MajorChode]

22. Let me know if you need more help

Class III helmets can sometimes be hard to find if you don't know the right people. Do NOT buy an older class II helmet as they are no longer effective unless you live north of the 60th parallel. The aliens increased their signal strength back in the mid 80's and we immediately started noticing people dropping off the net in the lower latitudes where the signal is stronger. The Class II helmet design was broad spectrum and unable to block the stronger signal. We knew the Propaganda Ministers had the correct frequency, but it alluded us for many years until we finally had to beat it out of Dan Rather. We then immediately came out with the Class III which is a 1/4 wave tuned device specifically cut to the right harmonic and it's been completely effective ever since.

[johnaries]

10. Actually, you may be right.

Can steroid hormones in meat affect the age of puberty for girls?

Early puberty in girls has been found to be associated with a higher risk for breast cancer. Height, weight, diet, exercise, and family history have all been found to influence age of puberty (see BCERF Fact Sheet #08, Childhood Life Events and the Risk of Breast Cancer). Steroid hormones in food were suspected to cause early puberty in girls in some reports. However, exposure to higher than natural levels of steroid hormones through hormone-treated meat or poultry has never been documented. Large epidemiological studies have not been done to see whether or not early puberty in developing girls is associated with having eaten growth hormone-treated foods.

A concern about an increase in cases of girls reaching puberty or menarche early (at age eight or younger) in Puerto Rico, led to an investigation in the early 1980s by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Samples of meat and chicken from Puerto Rico were tested for steroid hormone residues. One laboratory found a chicken sample from a local market to have higher than normal level of estrogen. Also, residues of zeranol were reported in the blood of some of the girls who had reached puberty early. However, these results could not be verified by other laboratories. Following CDC's investigation, USDA tested 150 to 200 beef, poultry and milk samples from Puerto Rico in 1985, and found no residues of DES, zeranol or estrogen in these samples.

In another study in Italy, steroid hormone residues in beef and poultry in school meals were suspected as the cause of breast enlargement in very young girls and boys. However, the suspect beef and poultry samples were not available to test for the presence of hormones. Without proof that exposure to higher levels of steroid hormones occurred through food, it is not possible to conclude whether or not eating hormone-treated meat or poultry caused the breast enlargement in these cases.

http://envirocancer.cornell.edu/Factsheet/Diet/fs37.hormones.cfm

[MrsBrady]

12. growth hormone in the food supply

would be my first guess

edit: I talked with a woman at the grocery store one time, and she told me she raised her girls on organic foods/milk
and they didn't get their periods until they were 15/16....while all their friends got theirs about 9/10

I think I was 11 or 12.

[Poll_Blind]

14. I've heard similar anecdotes. n/t

PB

[SoCalDem]

19. It's getting earlier & earlier

but if it's happening to girls, it's probably affecting boys as well.. Hormones are tricky little critters..a little goes a LONG way..

[SpiralHawk]

24. Boys are being feminized by their GM hormone-rich diets

...off to google for the studies on this...

Not hard to find

Environmental Chemicals are Feminizing Boys

" picture is emerging of ubiquitous chemical contamination driving down sperm counts and feminizing male children all over the developed world.

"Research at Rotterdam's Erasmus University found that boys whose mothers were exposed to PCBs and dioxins were more likely to play with dolls and tea sets and dress up in female clothes.

"... The contamination may also offer a clue to a mysterious shift in the sex of babies. Normally 106 boys are born for every 100 girls...But the proportion of females is rising."

http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/11/14/2023219/Environmental-Chemicals-Are-Feminizing-Boys?from=rss

[Maine-ah]

15. K&R

been hearing about this for years. Nice to see it get some more exposure to the public.

[flvegan]

17. Keep eating meat and dairy, y'all.

[SoCalDem]

18. fat cells produce estrogen too

and with so many children losing that lean-kid physique, that may be a factor as well..

hormone-laced foods from toddler-hood, no PE classes, parents afraid to let the kids play outside, no sidewalks in many neighborhoods, starchy sweet foods adding fat cells...it's a many-faceted problem.

Another factor is the brain itself.. Seeing so much sexy advertising may even kick the brain into pubescence earlier..

[no_hypocrisy]

20. And remnant estrogen and other hormones in treated drinking water.

Water filtration plants can't remove the hormones in waste water that contains urine with remnants of birth control pills.

Couple this with hormones in dairy products and beef products, and you can't be surprised by premature maturity.

[Evasporque]

21. More boys want to be girls too...

I am okay with that.

More estrogen please...Looking back through history...testosterone hasn't worked out so well...

[SpiralHawk]

23. "Mom, can I have another genetically mutant, hormone-soaked clone burger?" - Sis

[WolverineDG]

26. A friend of mine was told that it was "normal"

for her twin daughters to develop breasts at age 9. Neither of us had anything worth wearing a bra for until we were 13 or 14 & I don't recall any of my friends wearing bras at 9 either. So :wtf: How did it become "normal" for girls to get breasts at 9 when just a decade or so ago, the "norm" was 13 or 14?

dg