I recently wrote an article on this topic, and one of the experts I
interviewed said she didn't really believe that puberty was starting
earlier, just that until this study was done nobody was paying much
attention to whether preteens were getting a little underarm or pubic hair
or starting breast development. Parents usually didn't know that puberty had
started until the signs were really obvious. But the newer studies involved
examination of children specifically looking for these signs of early
puberty, so naturally they are noticed earlier.

I think her comments made a lot of sense. She pointed out that back in the
Middle Ages, the records show many girls having babies at 12, so obviously
puberty had started some time before that.

Teresa Pitman
Guelph, Ontario

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html