The most probable explanation for why periods and breast development might be happening younger is that girls tend to weigh more today than they did a generation ago—and this higher body fat percentage is leading to earlier activation of the pituitary gland, which produces the hormones responsible for puberty.
Researchers and physicians hypothesized about possible causes for the increase in early puberty, such as increasing rates of obesity; greater exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in food, plastics, and personal-care products; and stressful or abusive home environments.
Studies show that puberty is starting earlier and has dropped about three months each decade since the 1970s. Based on this newer starting age for puberty, girls in the U.S. are most likely to get their period around 12 years old.
For most children, early puberty starts for no known reason. It can run in families. Sometimes there is a problem in the brain, such as an injury, a tumor or an infection. Early puberty can also be caused by a problem in the sex glands (testes or ovaries), the thyroid gland or the adrenal glands.
When do periods start? Most young people will have their first periods when they're between 11 and 14½, but anywhere from 9-16 years is considered normal.
If a girl starts menstruation at a young age, it's usually because the hormones in her body responsible for puberty are being produced earlier.
Most girls get their first period when they're between 10 and 15 years old. The average age is 12, but every girl's body has its own schedule. Although there's no one right age for a girl to get her period, there are some clues that it will start soon.
Children with precocious puberty may grow quickly at first and be tall, compared with their peers. But, because their bones mature more quickly than normal, they often stop growing earlier than usual. This can cause them to be shorter than average as adults.
But it's perfectly normal for puberty to begin at any point between the ages of 8 and 13 in girls and 9 and 14 in boys. There's not usually any need to worry if puberty does not start around the average age, but it's a good idea to speak to your GP for advice if it starts before 8 or has not started by around 14.
Among adolescent girls, early puberty is associated with more depressive disorders, substance use disorders, eating disorders and disruptive behavior disorders. Of those disorders, "the clearest and most consistent link is between early puberty and depression in girls," Graber says.
Addressing Physical and Mental Changes of Early Puberty
Your child may have a noticeable growth spurt because of their early puberty, but one of its complications is an abrupt and early end of that growth, leading to short stature as an adult.
When your daughter starts to go through puberty, her gonads (ovaries) and adrenal glands (glands that sit on top of the kidneys) release hormones. These hormones cause the first signs of puberty, which are breast development, body odor, underarm hair, pubic hair and acne (pimples).
A girl's period, also known as menstruation, begins about 2 to 2½ years after her first signs of puberty. Breast development is usually the first sign of puberty, but sometimes pubic hair comes first. Girls usually get their first periods between the ages of 8 and 15.
High protein intake elevates IGF-1 levels and promotes growth, which could accelerate the onset of puberty. Poor diet. Children with lower-nutrient diets tend to enter puberty earlier. A diet rich in processed foods and meats, dairy, and fast food is disruptive to normal physical development.
Fact: There is no scientific evidence that drinking milk causes early puberty. In the United States, girls are entering puberty at younger ages than they were in the first half of the 20th century. Researchers do not know the exact trigger for early-onset puberty, although it is likely influenced by many factors.
Avoid exposure to hormones.
Keep your children away from medications, creams, and lotions that contain reproductive hormones like estrogen and testosterone. This is the best way to avoid early puberty, as it cannot be prevented in most cases.
If not diagnosed and treated at an early stage, central precocious puberty (CPP) can compromise final adult height, cause incongruity between psychological and physical development, and may also trigger psychological problems arising from early menarche.
In Stage 2, physical changes begin. Between the ages of 8 and 13, girls typically experience: Their breasts begin to bud, and their areolas (pigmented area around the nipple) enlarge. Scant pubic hair appears.
The most dangerous age is 14. If you know any teenagers this might not come as a surprise, but research has confirmed that risk-taking peaks during this exact moment in mid-adolescence.
Providers can treat precocious puberty—marked by breast development before age 8 or testes growth before age 9—with hormonal suppressants, also called puberty blockers. With supervision, these reversible drugs safely and effectively delay a child's development until they're ready.
Although it is difficult to tease apart cause and effect, earlier puberty may have harmful impacts, especially for girls. Girls who go through puberty early are at a higher risk of depression, anxiety, substance abuse and other psychological problems, compared with peers who hit puberty later.
According to one study, around 26 % of men experience these regular “man periods.” Men have hormonal cycles. While they may not be the same type of “monthly” cycles that women have, men have hormonal cycles. Typically, testosterone levels are higher in the morning and lower at night.
Growing pubic hair
Her first period usually arrives around one to two years after pubic hair starts growing.
Sometimes, irregular periods can be caused by some medicines, exercising too much, having a very low or high body weight, or not eating enough calories. Hormone imbalances can also cause irregular periods. For example, thyroid hormone levels that are too low or too high can cause problems with periods.