Puberty among girls

Girls starting their period at around age 9 or 10 seems to be becoming more common worldwide. As a mom, I know that we would all like our children to have the best childhood possible, and the onset of puberty can feel as if their childhood is coming to an end too soon. I spoke to a paediatrician about this recently and they mentioned that researchers' suggest various reasons for this including stress, possible hormones in foods or endocrine-disrupting chemicals in our environment, or an increase in average bodyweight. An increase in the average weight of kids can be attributed to both the improvement of food security for children worldwide, easier access to higher calorie foods, as well as the more sedentary lives that our kids lead - spending less time active and outdoors than previous generations (both at school and at home).

I recently interviewed the founder of a charity called Lady Talk Matters whose aim is to reduce the taboo surrounding female reproductive matters. They have wonderful resources for younger children that can be accessed via this link https://ladytalkmatters.org/resource/menstrual_health/ in which they discuss puberty, periods, and demystify some of the taboos around menstruation. Their information is factual, straightforward, and age appropriate. Conversations around these important topics including reproductive health, hygiene, and sex education should be ongoing rather than one big "lecture". If you can keep the channels of communication open you will be able to give your daughter the information she needs over time and she will feel confident that she can speak to you about any of her concerns.