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Why are kids going through puberty earlier?
Up until recently, scientists thought that kids went through puberty at specific times based on their genes. While this can be a factor, it's not the only one. Now, they've realized that a lot of the timing has to do with your environment. Some of the top reasons for going through early puberty are...
HEALTH AND NUTRITION
Most children whose biological mothers had good nutrition during pregnancy, and who grow up eating the same way, go through puberty earlier. This is also true of kids who over-eat, or are overweight. These kids have more Leptin in their bodies (a protein that fat cells produce telling our brains we're full), which stimulates the production of Kisspeptin (a chemical in the brain responsible for the release of puberty hormones). The more Leptin your body has, the more Kisspeptin it will produce. This, in turn, can result in early puberty.
EXPOSURE TO LIGHT
You've probably been told many times to stop staring at your screens because they're not good for you. You probably didn't know they're actually not good for pubertal timing, either! Light, both natural and artificial, slows down production of Melatonin (a hormone that makes you feel sleepy and regulates the sleep cycle).
Melatonin suppresses the production of Kisspeptin. Therefore, when your body can't produce enough Melatonin, it will produce more Kisspeptin, and that can result in early puberty. This is one reason to not look at screens before bed.
EXPOSURE TO CHEMICALS
Chemicals in your environment can also trigger early puberty, and are sometimes referred to as "endocrine disruptors" because they disrupt your body's normal hormonal functioning. You can find them in plastics (food containers, furniture items, household products), pesticides, hair products, and even foods like meat and dairy. Unfortunately, it's very hard to avoid environmental chemicals in today's society. When buying any of these products, make sure you're getting certified BPA free items.
FAMILY STRESS
When small amounts of the body's stress hormone, Cortisol, are released consistently (like when a child often listens to their parents fight), it stimulates puberty. Also, kids with female anatomy can go through puberty earlier when there is no father figure in the home. This is a very heteronormative hypothesis that says daughters of single-mothers can be exposed to many unrelated adult men, which increases their exposure to Pheromones (chemicals in your body that affect others, to which females are very sensitive).
LOW BIRTH WEIGHT
Early puberty sometimes occurs in kids who were born at a low birth weight. This is because low birth weight results in the body overproducing Insulin (a hormone that regulates sugar in your blood). Having high insulin levels can lead to excess weight gain, which can then lead to obesity, which we now know is related to early puberty. However, Insulin also stimulates the production of puberty hormones, making puberty happen earlier and progress more quickly.
Fun Fact: On average, kids who live closer to the Equator go through puberty earlier than kids who live far away from it because there is more, extended sunlight at the Equator.
