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"I don&amp;#x27;t know about you, but by the time full-fledged puberty hit, I was old ... around 14. While there&amp;#x27;s a big range as to when the beginning of womanhood starts, the latest studies indicate that girls are hitting puberty much earlier these days. What&amp;#x27;s going on? A new study published in the journal Pediatrics that looked at more than 1,200 girls age six to eight in New York, Ohio and California found that girls are showing earlier signs of puberty than they did 13 years ago. Shockingly, among 7-year-olds, about 10.4 percent of white girls, 23.4 percent of African American girls and almost 15 percent of Hispanic girls had started developing breasts. And by age 8, a whopping18.3 percent of white girls, 43 percent of African American girls and just under 31 percent of Hispanic girls showed signs of breast development. Wow! I don&amp;#x27;t know about you, but at age 7 and 8, breasts weren&amp;#x27;t even on my radar screen. What&amp;#x27;s going on? Researchers are just as puzzled as the rest of us, but they do mention three factors: greater obesity rates (which can induce early puberty), unknown environmental factors (that&amp;#x27;s the scary part), and genetics at play. How old were you when you hit puberty (if you care to share)? And what are your thoughts on this? P.S. Want to be healthier? Researchers say to do this. And, go have a latte! The latest news on coffee is v-good ... More Ways to Get Glamour Visit Shopglamour.com for cute stuff starting at just $10! Enter the latest Glamour sweepstakes! Follow us on Twitter Add us to your iGoogle homepage FREE Beauty Stuff! Enter for your Chance to Win a New Prize Every Day! Photo: Thinkstock"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/vitamin-g/2010/08/girls-developing-breasts-as-yo>