Girls Spouting Boobs A Year Earlier Than They Did A Decade Ago
Posted by: Nikki Dowling
Filed in:
news
4:40PM, Wednesday July 29th 2009
According to a new study, today’s girls are reaching for bras about a year earlier than they did 15 years ago. Yep, for some reason, it looks like girls are going through puberty much earlier than they did generations ago. Young women who blossom early are more likely to have problems with breast cancer, depression, and substance abuse, not to mention the fact that they have to spend more money on tampons and deal with more menstrual cramps over the course of a lifetime. So what’s going on here?
Originally, scientists thought early bloomers were springing up because the population is getting fatter, and bigger chicks tend to develop breasts sooner. But, it turns out, this isn’t the whole story. The average weight of the girls in the study wasn’t very different from the girls surveyed 15 years ago. Is this the wishful thinking of prepubescent boys?
Now, scientists have a new theory. They think endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) may be to blame. These chemicals are found in lotions, shampoo, plastic, cigarettes, pesticides, and more. Because Europe is starting to test products’ effects on human hormones and the U.S., EDCs could have totally slipped under the radar. These compounds are similar to estrogen, and our estrogen receptors aren’t too hip to what is real and what is not, so they are easily faked out. These chemicals could be tricking young girls’ bodies into producing more estrogen which would, in turn, make them develop faster.
Pretty crazy, huh? [DoubleX]
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_jsw_
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 03:48 pm: [report]
I can’t wait to see how these are shown to affect boys as well. All that pseudo estrogen can’t be good for either sex.
Humble Bee
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 03:50 pm: [report]
I thought i’d be all the hormones girls are eating in fast foods.
Raugiel
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 03:56 pm: [report]
@Humble Bee - No reason why it can’t be both!
amorsalado
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 04:17 pm: [report]
Bovine Growth Hormone.
kw1223
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 04:41 pm: [report]
My daughter is 10, almost 11, and is on her third set of bras. I’m pretty sure its because of the chemicals in the animals we eat.
raqueleza
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 06:09 pm: [report]
I’m still waiting for my boobs to come in.
My sister, who is 6 years younger than I am, got her period THREE YEARS earlier than I did (I was 14, she was 11)..which I’m sure is just the luck of the draw. However, I read somewhere that at the turn of the century, the average age of first menstruation was 17, and now it’s around 13, if I remember correctly.
Justine
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 06:41 pm: [report]
I got my period when I was 10. And I agree it’s because of the chemicals. (in general)
EarthGoddess
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 07:08 pm: [report]
I started my period at 11 and I was already in bras for about a year or so at that point I think. My daughter is 8 and I have a feeling she’ll have both happen to her within the next year. It scares me to think she’ll be physically ready for adulthood so long before she’s emotionally and psychologically ready. I’ll have an ulcer by the time she’s a teenager!
bbpickles
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 09:48 pm: [report]
They have been talking about hormones in our food causing girls to develop much earlier than normal for a while now! Start buying the girls organic I guess…..
kmatter
wrote on July 30 2009 @ 02:33 pm: [report]
i always assumed it was all the hormonse they keep pumping into chickens and cows, that we then eat >_> but idk… my sister is pretty big (not to be mean, but i was much tinier at 14 than she is) and she hasn’t even started her period, whereas i go mine at 12… and all the lovely “grown-up-ness” of bras and form fitted clothing that went along with it…