Earlier puberty in AA girls?

Honestly it appears to be both when my dd (also aa )started going through puberty at 8 i asked the dr he stated as long as they are older than 6 it is early but normal

Very normal these days, but I was told recently AA girls go through puberty even earlier in our recent IMPACT classes for foster/adoption.

Girls, in general, are going through puberty a bit earlier, but black girls are, even more so. It applies to black boys, too. My two black sons were mature quite a bit younger than my white sons. I worried about my black/Asian daughter developing early but, fortunately, she was a little on the late side for development. She got underarm hair at about nine, but didn't get any breast development at all until she was almost 13 and she was nearly 14 when she got her period. I think one thing that would really worry me, with a little girl who developed real early, would be that there would likely be boys, and men, making sexual comments to her. It is hard enough for a teenaged girl to deal with that kind of thing. I would talk to her about that and encourage her to tell me about anything anyone said to her that made her feel uncomfortable. It could happen anywhere. I think there are lots of creeps out there who would be more likely to treat a black girl like that, too, unfortunately.

1. Black children do, on average, hit puberty before White children. 2. Internationally adopted children of all races have a higher risk of precocious puberty than other children. The theory is that the rapid nutritional "catch-up" that is characteristic of internationally adopted children when they come home triggers something in the brain that leads to an earlier start of puberty. According to the Mayo Clinic, precocious puberty refers to puberty symptoms starting before age 8 in girls and before age 9 in boys. Sadly, there are kids who develop adult body odor and pubic hair as early as age four. There are tests that a doctor can do to establish the origin of some forms of precocious puberty. Doctors will usually try to rule out serious diseases, such as some cancers, as well as more minor conditions, such as ovarian cysts. They will also look at bone age, since children with true precocious puberty will have bone age greater than chronological age. If a child has precocious puberty, and it has the potential to cause psychological and social problems, specialists can slow down the pace. with medication. Sharon

I don't remember a lot of what we learned about precocious puberty, 20 years ago, except that it is a medical condition that can have serious repercussions, like stunting growth. My oldest daughter, had breast bud development when she was a little more than a year old. The pediatrician said that sometimes they could just have a small cyst develop on an ovary and cause a little bit of breast development, but it usually wasn't anything to worry about. She told us to let her know if they got any bigger, or she had any other signs of puberty. Fortunately, nothing more happened until she was at an appropriate age.

A study has shown that early onset puberty in AA girls may be a result of the use of chemical relaxers on their hair. This is only one of many reasons to avoid using relaxers, at least on children.

Wow, I hadn't heard that, but it is a very good thing to know! I'm glad I refused to have my daughter's hair straightened until she had all ready gone through puberty.