When does puberty begin – and why does it start earlier and earlier?
While girls got their first bleeding almost 150 years ago on average only between the ages of 16 and 17, the average age of entry into puberty today is about eleven years. The first period comes less than a year later. But why is that? Why are our children maturing faster and faster these days?
Over time, the age of puberty has steadily decreased: Around 1850, menarche, the first bleeding, occurred in most girls in Germany at the age of 16. In 1920 – just 70 years later – the age was already 14 years. During examinations and studies in 1980 it was found that the time of the first period has fallen again: almost 40 years ago it was twelve years. And today? Most girls get their periods around the age of eleven. The situation is no different for boys: they are also entering puberty earlier and earlier. Prepuberty begins between the ages of 9 and 11, reaching the peak phase between the ages of 12 and 17.
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ToggleEntering puberty: Why does it always start earlier?
When puberty begins, a starting signal goes through the body – and it is fired in the brain. By stimulating the pituitary gland, messenger substances are secreted, which ultimately stimulate the production of thesex hormones testosterone and estrogen. The signal for the body to change and grow up.
Although so much is known about the processes in the brain, science does not yet know why the body suddenly enters puberty at a certain time – only that it does and thus brings sexual maturity with it.
Different factors for the onset of puberty
In the search for the cause of the ever earlier onset of puberty, scientists have come across different factors:
Martin Reincke, hormone expert at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, explains in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung: “The main reason for this is diet – the prerequisite for reproduction is sufficient adipose tissue.” Studies support this thesis: Nowadays, children and young people are weighing more and more. Obesity produces the messenger substance leptin, which promotes puberty. The more obese a child, the earlier it develops. In addition, girls naturally gain fat tissue more easily than boys, so they enter puberty even earlier.
Another trigger for premature puberty is the chemical bisphenol A. The controversial plasticizer can be found in packaging, microwaveable dishes, milk cartons, bottles, containers and can coatings – but also in plastic pacifiers. Bisphenol A is suspected of increasing the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease and also acts as an estrogen-like substance that signals to the body that it is now time for puberty.
Psychological factors also decide
But psychological factors should not be ignored either: Reincke is convinced that the heavy burdens of everyday life, the hustle and bustle and fast pace would play a major role. Man as a “beleaguered creature” feels threatened and wants to reproduce in the last hurry in order to preserve the species. A study by the University of Arizona also found that girls whose parents separated or who come from difficult family backgrounds also pubescent earlier. Stress, pressure and the general emotional world of a child also seem to be an important factor.
The emotional world of a pubescent child is a complete mess – and so it is neither easy for the offspring nor for you as a parent to survive this time without quarrels. With our tips for parents, it will be a little easier for you to keep a cool head and help your child through this difficult time of growing up.