Why are girls growing up so fast? “According to scientists who have been investigating the case,
the biological effect of oestrogens… lurking in the
environment may well be the reason why (girls) in
industrialised countries of the West are going into puberty at
an increasingly early age. But other researchers reject the
notion, and say that better nutrition and obesity are to blame.
Still more researchers suggest the declining age of sexual
maturity is the result of having a cold and distant father, or a
stepfather, or a depressed mother. A stressful home has also
been blamed, and so too has lack of adolescent exercise, as
well as child abuse, stress and media images.” Independent