Girls, Puberty | featured news

One day last year when her daughter, Ainsley, was 9, Tracee Sioux pulled her out of her elementary school in Fort Collins, Colo., and drove her an hour south, to Longmont, in hopes of finding a satisfying reason that Ainsley began growing pubic hair at age 6. Ainsley was the tallest child in her third-grade class. She had a thick, enviable blond-streaked ponytail and big feet, like a puppy’s. The curves of her Levi’s matched her mother’s.

Girls are being catapulted into adolescence long before their brains are ready for the change.

At least 30 genes appear to play a role in the age at which girls reach puberty, according to an international group of scientists.

Girls are hitting puberty earlier than ever, a change that puts them at higher risk for behavior problems now, cancer problems later, a study ...