It's nothing new, but it's definitely more common than most of us would ever imagine. I'm talking about precocious puberty–the kind that starts before age 10. In some cases, several years earlier. Just ask Tanginika Cuascud, a Puerto Rican woman who began menstruating before age 7 and nobody bothered to explain what was happening.
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Can you imagine how difficult and confusing this must have been for Causcud? The now 42-year-old woman first noticed her body was changing when she was just 5 years old and her breasts began to develop. Unfortunately, neither her mother nor the many doctors who treated her unusual case had the decency to explain what was going on. Sadly, she ended up being bullied and even sexually abused.
Most girls start going through puberty at age 12, but for between 10 and 15 percent this happens at age 7 or earlier. That's my daughter age and, in all honesty, I simply can't fathom that happening to a little girl who still believes in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy.
Although several reasons have been reported as the cause of precocious puberty–including childhood obesity–the truth is that nobody knows for sure. At this point, though, I feel like the most important thing is for parents to be as prepared as possible for this possibility so we can explain these changes to our daughters despite their young age. The idea is to avoid the confusion and the fear Cuascud says she felt when she was little and she had no idea what was going on with her body.
Image via Thinkstock
