Pediatric endocrinologist Emily Walvoord, at the Indiana University School of Medicine, analyzed 100 published articles on the topic. She showed that diabetes and related diseases are linked less to early puberty and more to obesity. Girls who are obese tend to get their periods earlier. Which leads us to the issue most relevant issue for this blog.
Girls who are obese are also at higher risk for eating disorders. And with the early puberty top-off, we arrive at a double stigma: developing too early and too curvy.
Girls who reach puberty earlier are more likely to experience negative body image, depression and other mental disorders. Jane Mendle, psychology professor at the University of Oregon, says that girls who mature earlier tend to land in social situations they are not psychologically prepared to handle. Questions of sexuality. Advances by boys. Dealing with body changes. In fact, preteens’ and teens brains are not fully developed. That means preteens and teens are the emotional equivalent of adults, even though the youngsters may look the part.
At the same time, girls who are obese are more likely to loathe their bodies and to pick up fad dieting and binging. They also are at higher risk for anorexia, as they too successfully try to get the weight off.
Putting it all together, girls who get their periods early are vulnerable. It is wise to keep an eye on them. All the tenets on how to handle obesity hold here, maybe moreso.
Of note: While research on boys and puberty is thin compared to girls, Mendle says her recent work suggests the deciding factor for the emotional influence on boys is more likely the duration of puberty, rather than timing, as it is for girls.
