A younger generation, a higher chance to reach puberty faster

For a while, it has been known that girls are hitting puberty at a younger age. However, many scientists have been wondering how young can a girl actually hit puberty. So far, it seems that African American girls often hit puberty and start to develop breasts around the age of 7. This has remained constant for nearly a decade. Many other races are following the same course though. White girls have nearly doubled their chances of beginning to develop breasts at the age of 7 since 1997. Some wonder why African American girls have remained at the same chance to hit puberty while white girls continue to have their chances increase. It seems that African American girls have already reached the minimum age limit for sexual maturity. The early puberty is most likely the result of the obesity epidemic. This is because fat triggers the body to produce more hormones and to begin sexual development. Some things in the environment are also to blame, such as food additives and Bisphenol A, an organic compound found in some plastics and epoxy. Early puberty is a problem because estrogen is what causes breast development and sexual development. Estrogen is also one of the main causes of breast cancer. Because females are exposed to extrogen at such at early age, they have a higher chance of developing breast cancer later on.

Scientists studied the human body even before the idea of doctors and medicine came into view. Though even with all this time, scientists are always finding new things, good and bad. Because early puberty may be a major cause of breast cancer, scientists and doctors and start a prevention program rather than create expensive methods to cure breast cancer. Doctors could try to push a girl's puberty by making her eat healthy, exericise, and avoid certian materials from a young age. This could effectively cut down the amount of cases of breast cancer.

I know that at least one of you reading this will have children some day. And I also know that you don't want your child to have breast cancer. Because scientists are figuring out this case now, it is possible that by the time you have children, puberty will be pushed back to it's original age, around the teens. This could potentially lower your child's chance of having breast cancer. Breast cancer is the most common type of non-skin cancer in women. About 10% of all cancers diagnosed is breast cancer. If scientists can figure out the best way to push back puberty or delay it, then they could potentially prevent thousands of cases of breast cancer.
Time Volume 176, Number 8. 2010