Tween’s, Training Bras and Ta-Ta’s
My daughter would kill me if she knew I wrote this on my blog about her so I need to keep it a secret! She is 9 years old and just starting to ‘develop’. I recently got her some sports bra’s for girls. She hates them! Complains daily. She really isn’t developing any earlier than I did so I’m not quite sure how to take this new study Childhood obesity can trigger early puberty. Apparently, the heavier a girl is from the age of 3 through 6, the more likely that she will start puberty early at the age of 9. Damn, another reason for me to feel guilty!
"The report from the University of Michigan’s Mott Children’s Hospital said a multiyear study following a group of 354 girls found that those who were fatter at age 3 and who gained weight during the next three years reached puberty, as defined by breast development, by age 9."
“Our finding that increased body fatness is associated with the earlier onset of puberty provides additional evidence that growing rates of obesity among children in this country may be contributing to the trend of early maturation in girls,” said Dr. Joyce Lee, the lead author.
Obesity in children is surely a concern in this country, but I wouldn’t consider my daughter ‘overweight’ - maybe a bit ‘chubby’ compared to her skinny friends. I have seen some seriously overweight children in her school so she is in no way near that extreme yet it seems her weight could be the cause of her starting to develop her breasts at the age of 9.
I’m not sure I believe it. I wasn’t overweight as a child. I was ‘chubby’ - at least that’s what I was told by the obnoxious kid next door - and I developed early. I remember having to wear a real bra in 3rd grade and the stupid girl behind me in class plucked my bra strap all the time. Ugh the horror!
So even though there is another study trying to make me feel like a crappy parent who lets their kid gain too much weight I think this one might just boil down to heredity. Here’s a good reference site for girls, training bras and breast development - My First Bra.
Tags: girls, training bra, puberty, obesity, kids
