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Recent American studies highlight the fact that puberty is happening earlier and earlier, especially among young girls. Update on precocious puberty with Dr. Régis Coutant, endocrinologist.
Acne, breast development, menstruation, changing voice… Puberty affects us all, but with a new phenomenon in recent years According to Dr. Régis Coutant, endocrinologist, “the first signs of puberty occur earlier, in girls in particular”. Some studies conducted in Europe and the United States confirm this phenomenon.
“A girl can have breast development that starts a little after age 6, and that’s ‘natural’. The average age of onset of breast development is around 9 years 9 months today, says the expert. 20-30 years ago, the earliest age of breast appearance was around 8 years old, and the average age of breast development was around 10 years 9 months”.
Today, 5-10% of girls can have breast development before age 8. It would therefore seem that the first signs of puberty appear earlier than before. However, puberty evolves more slowly with the appearance of the first menstruation which has changed little (12 years 9 months today against 13 years more than 20 years ago).
Factors favoring precocious puberty
According to Dr. Coutant, several factors favor early puberty in young girls. Food can be a factor: “Excess weight promotes earlier onset of breast development. This factor is clearly associated”, he explains. To limit this phenomenon, it is necessary to have a balanced diet from an early age.
Regarding the question of endocrine disruptorsthe endocrinologist is mixed: “epidemiologically, the studies are divergent, some find an association, others do not. It is difficult to measure the real exposure to endocrine disruptors, in their totality because most often only a few endocrine disruptors can be measuredhe explains. And on a pathophysiological level, exposure to endocrine disruptors can be well before the onset of puberty (perhaps even in utero). In animal models, some have experimentally altered the timing of puberty. In summary, it is possible that they are involved in the phenomenon of earlier onset of puberty signs in girls, but we have no formal proof of this.
No obvious health impact
Regarding the impact of this precocious puberty, there does not seem to be any impact on the health of young girls. According to Professor Coutant, “There is no measured impact of these earlier signs of puberty on the frequency of breast cancer, or on the age of menopause, but this remains to be studied over time”.
In any case, the doctor reminds that any girl whose first signs of puberty appear before the age of 8 must have a medical evaluation, in order to determine if this development is physiological, or if there is a pathology responsible.