The number of white girls developing signs of puberty at a younger age has almost doubled since the late 1990s, researchers found. A longitudinal study of more than 1,200 girls examined between 2004 and 2006 found that 10.4% of the white 7-year-old girls had begun to mature -- as determined by the presence of palpable breast buds -- according to Frank Biro, MD, of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and colleagues.
