The short answer is yes. The long answer is yes as well.
Remember! Girls start puberty before their periods start!
Here’s what we know and be sure to read this awesome article from the NY Times:
The most legitimate reason for the earlier onset in girls is because they are fatter (have more fat, not poundage) and/or healthier and therefore ready to make babies sooner.
Boys are starting puberty sooner too and my guess is that it’s for the same reasons – fatter = healthier = ready to breed.
Stress may be a big contributing factor to early puberty.
We’re seeing puberty in typically developing girls start as young as 8. The average age seems to be about 9 or 10.
Boys start puberty at about 11 as opposed to 13 or so which was the standard go-to age.
The study that told us girls have periods at 12 or 13 was flawed. It was done on a bunch of white, middle class girls from the same neck of the woods.
The “real” age girls start periods is “12 years old, plus or minus 3 years.” Not helpful, really. It seems to be most girls start around age 11. If you daughter is your bio kid, then when you started is about when she’ll start.
Boys choirs are suffering because their sopranos’ voices are changing by 13 instead of 15.
Talk to them sooner than you think – age 8 – about puberty. If they aren’t quite there yet, one of their classmates is sure to be.
