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by Sherrill Sellman
 Julianne is a devoted mother to her
beautiful and healthy-looking five-year-
old daughter. But all is not as it
seems—something strange is stirring
in Sarah’s body.
One night, while putting Sarah to bed,
Julianne pulled the pajama top over her
daughter’s head, when Sarah suddenly
exclaimed “Ouch! That hurt when you
touched my nipple.” Julianne was totally surprised
by her daughter’s response. Upon
taking a closer look, she noticed that her nipples
did appear to be different from what she
had remembered. In fact, they looked bigger.
Julianne immediately called her pediatrician
to schedule tests. The results confirmed
that Sarah was going through puberty. The
small lumps were, in fact, breast buds. Sarah’s
breasts were actually developing, but she was
only five years old. How could this be possible?
The doctor explained that Sarah had a
condition called “precocious puberty.”
Thinking the Unthinkable
Early sexual development in girls, known as
precocious puberty, seems to be happening
everywhere. Presently one out of six eightyear-
old girls in the U.S. are racing into
puberty. It is a pattern emerging in young
girls all over the world. Reports of early
puberty have come from many diverse countries
and climates including Australia,
Britain, Canada, Europe, Asia and the
Caribbean.
A Generation Ago
The onset of menstruation has been steadily
declining in Western countries. It wasn’t very
long ago when a teenager’s first menstruation
would arrive between the ages of 14 and 16.
Today the average age of the first menstruation
for girls is under 12 years of age.
A groundbreaking study in 1997 on
17,000 girls sent shock waves through the
medical community. The study found that
the initial signs of puberty were occurring
much earlier than previously recorded. The
study found that 27 percent of African-
American and almost seven percent of
Caucasian girls had the onset of secondary
sexual characteristics, i.e. either breast development
or pubic hair development, by the
age of seven. By the time girls turn eight
years old, one in seven Caucasian girls and 50
percent of Afro-American girls will be
starting puberty. Even more startling was the
finding that 1 percent of Caucasian and 3
percent of African-American girls showed
these characteristics by the age of three.
How common is this trend? “Young girls
in the five-to 10-year-old range with breasts
and pubic hair—we encounter this every day
in our clinic,” says Michael Feemark, chief of
pediatric endocrinology at Duke University
Medical Center. Similar findings were
reported from a study of 14,000 children
from Bristol University’s Institute of Child
Health in the U.K.
The development of secondary sexual
characteristics in girls is a significant event,
signaling the onset of physiological and psychological
ranges of profound importance.
Many scientists and doctors are concerned.
This is a worrisome trend as well as a very
serious public health problem. Before they
have outgrown dollhouses, many young girls
are being faced with the confusing moods
swings, hormonal changes and sexual attention
that accompany physical maturation.
The ramifications to public health are
dramatic. Studies have found that girls who
reach puberty earlier tend to have sex earlier,
increase the risk of pregnancy, experience
more psychological stress, poor mental
health, more behavioral problems, are more
likely to drink, smoke, have a lower IQ and
commit suicide. For boys, it can mean more
aggressive, violent behavior, learning disabilities
and more drug and alcohol abuse.
But the most disturbing consequence
of early puberty in females is the wellestablished
risk for pre- and postmenopausal
breast cancer as well as ovarian cancer.
According to a study that was published in
the journal Nature (1989), the risk associated
with having an early menarche—for
instance, one that takes place at the age of
10—is approximately twice that associated
with a menarche that occurs much later, say
at the age of 16 or so. In addition, girls
showing early signs of puberty also have
increased risks of polycystic ovarian syndrome,
acne, excessive facial hair and infertility.
Precocious puberty is also occurring in
boys. It has now been discovered that boys as
young as nine years old are developing
mature genitalia, are producing sperm and
have spontaneous erections. In addition,
they have hair growth on the face, under
arms and in the pubic area, along with acne
problems. With surging testosterone levels,
they are also preoccupied with girls.
Early puberty in males can increase their
incidence of testicular cancer, lower fertility
rates and impair growth, leading to a shorter
stature.
What It All Means
Since early puberty is a well-established risk
for breast cancer, the earlier a woman reaches
puberty, the longer her breast tissues will be
exposed to potentially harmful-causing
agents (chemicals, radiation and estrogen).
According to Dr. Emily Banks, deputy
director of Cancer Research at the U.K.’s
Epidemiology Unit in Oxford, “We have
known for some time that the younger a
woman is when she starts her periods, the
higher her risk of developing breast cancer
later in life. The younger a woman is, the
longer her overall exposure to high levels of
estrogens.”
Dr. Carlos Sonnenschein of Tufts
University of Medicine warns, “The length
and amount of exposure to estrogen is one of
the most significant risk factors in breast carcinogenesis.
Unless you are exposed to estrogens,
you don’t get breast cancer. The longer
the exposure is, the higher the incidence.
Therefore, if you decrease the age of the first
menstruation, you are at higher risk.”
The experts are confused. It is absurd to
think that early puberty is the result of better
nutrition, as many scientists assert. An
increase in obesity in children and lack of exercise has a direct relationship to this
problem. Between the late 1970s and the early
1990s, the percentage of overweight children
nearly doubled. A protein called leptin may
encourage early breast development. Fat cells
produce leptin, which is necessary for the progression
of puberty. Also, overweight girls have
more insulin circulating in their blood. Those
higher levels of insulin appear to stimulate the
production of sex hormones from the ovary
and adrenals.
Is it just the fast foods and sedentary
lifestyle that are piling up the leptin-producing
fat? Perhaps not. A 20-year study found that
the greater the prenatal level of the hormone
disrupter, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), the
heavier the girls were at age 14 and thus statistically
earlier their puberty. Could prenatal
exposure to hormone disrupters play a role in
obesity?
In fact, the really guilty party is looking
more and more like hormone disrupters found
in various foods, ingredients in personal care
products and environmental toxins.
Events occurring in Puerto Rico helped to
unravel this puzzling trend. For the past two
decades, Puerto Rico has recorded the highest
known incidence of premature breast development.
Girls as young as two years of age were
developing breasts.
Several reasons have been cited for this situation.
First of all, most of these children were
fed soy infant formulas. A 1997 Lancet study
showed that soy has plant-based chemicals that
mimic estrogen, displaying a wide range of
hormonal activities. The daily exposure to
infants who consume soy formulas was 6–11
times higher than adults who consume soy
foods. In fact, the blood concentrations of
these hormones in the children were
13,000–22,000 times higher than estrogen
normally found in the blood.
Clues have also emerged implicating hormone
disrupting chemicals. In a significant
study, the breast development of the Puerto
Rican children was linked to phthalate exposure,
a ubiquitous chemical plasticizer. The
researchers measured the presence of certain
phthalates in the blood of 41 girls experiencing
early breast development with a control group.
The average age was 31 months. They found
that 68 percent of the precocious puberty girls
had high levels of phthalates in their blood.
Guidelines for reducing risk of
precocious puberty:
- Use only organic household cleaning products, personal care products, cosmetic lawn and garden supplies and pet supplies.
- Eat organic food as much as possible.
- Avoid soft plastic toys. Phthalates are added to soften PVC plastic toys. Plastic toys also retain pesticides which are sprayed in the house for up to two weeks.
- Avoid buying canned foods or foods wrapped in plastic.
- Install a water filter.
- Use houseplants to filter chemicals from the air in your home.
- Exercise.
- Eliminate sugar, refined carbohydrates, trans fatty acids and pasteurized dairy products.
- Incorporate nutritional support from high quality vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and probiotics.
- Seek guidance from competent holistic practitioners.
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Phthalates are now everywhere. They are
common industrial chemicals used in building
materials, food packaging and food wrap, toys
and other children’s products, medical devices,
garden hoses, shoe soles, automobile undercoating,
wires and cables, carpet backing, carpet tile, vinyl tile, pool liners, artificial
leather, canvas tarps, notebook covers, tool
handles, dishwasher baskets, flea collars, insect
repellents, skin emollients, hair sprays, nail
polish and perfumes.
The Silent Invasion
Hormone disrupters, like silent saboteurs,
have invaded the highly sensitive endocrine systems of our children. Whether from chemical
exposure in the environment or from the
hormone laden meats and dairy products, or
chemically-laced personal care and household
products, exposure to dangerous chemicals has
now reached the highest level of exposure in
the entire history of human civilization. Is
there any wonder why precocious puberty is a
worldwide epidemic? The fact that early
puberty is a known risk for breast cancer
should be of great concern to all parents. No
one really knows the long-term consequences
of early sexual development. This is an
unprecedented experiment on our children.
Hardly a minute goes by without our being
exposed to some chemical; perhaps it is car
exhaust, room freshener, artificial fragrances,
baby shampoo, dry cleaning, colored popcorn,
furniture polish, fire retardant on new school
clothes, plastic water bottles, fly spray and on
and on it goes. Beginning in utero, our children
are accumulating chemicals in their
bodies, little by little, day in and day out for
years and years. For some children the effects
may become evident quickly while for others it
may take many years or decades before the real
harm—the cancers, the multiple sensitivities,
the behavioral problems, the learning disabilities,
the hormone imbalances and infertility or
sterility become apparent.
With the red flags waving you would think
that the medical profession would be leading
the charge against contamination and exposure
to hormone disrupting chemicals. After
all, they are in the trenches, daily witnessing
the rising number of children with precocious
puberty.
It is therefore rather shocking that a report
by a nationwide network of physicians suggested
that it is perfectly normal for girls as
young as six years old to be developing breasts.
Perfectly normal? Instead of facing up to the
implications of what is contributing to this
aberration and leading the charge for immediate
investigation into the causes and solutions,
the medical community prefers to
ignore a looming tragedy.
What can be done?
There are solutions to precocious puberty.
Holistic healing modalities such as Traditional
Chinese Medicine, naturopathy and holistic
medical approaches have been able to help get
hormonal health back on track. Since children
with symptoms of early puberty often have
allergies, food intolerances, candida, digestive
problems and high levels of toxicity, it is
imperative to correct these health problems.
The earlier these issues are identified and
attended to, the greater the success of reversing
early puberty.
In addition, it is imperative to reduce exposure
to hormone disrupters. All hormone
mimicking chemicals should be avoided,
which include non-organic meat, dairy and
produce, all commercial personal care products
such as suntan lotion, shampoos and
bubble bath, hormone disrupting chemicals
found in pesticides, herbicides, plasticizers and
commercial cleaning products.
Precocious puberty is a side effect of 21st
century living. However, there is much that
can be done to insure that children do not
become teens before their time.
Excerpted from Sherrill Sellman’s new book
Mother Prevent Your Daughters From Getting
Breast Cancer (GetWell Int’l, 2004).
Available at:
Web: www.ssellman.com
Tel: (877) 215-1721
E-mail:
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